David Montgomery: Can Lightning Strike Twice?

After 7 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, pro bowl tailback Joe Mixon tallied 6412 yards on 1571 carries for a 4.1 yards per carry average. Along the way, Mixon scored 49 rushing touchdowns, nailed 4 Player of the Week honors and 2 Pro Bowls.

In his 1 season with the Houston Texans, the former career Bengal racked up 1016 yards on 245 carries, totting the rock into the end zone 11 times.

Then Mixon entered the Twilight Zone, got lost in the Bermuda Triangle and found himself on a cliffhanger episode of Unsolved Mysteries all revolving around his lack of availability to play in 2025.

Surprising exactly no one, Houston released the former bell cow on March 6, 2026.

After 7 seasons with the Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions, Montgomery racked up 6115 yards on 1477 carries for a 4.1 yard per carry average. All those rushing attempts also brought 59 touchdowns.

Texans general manager Nick Caserio traded for the former NFL Top 100 tailback David Montgomery on March 11, 2026.

2 years later, Houston went to the proven, vet running back well and brought back an RB1 in their late 20s.

The similarities in the two tailbacks don’t end there. Both “run angry” with a style that suits a downhill running attack. However, they are definitely not carbon-copy players.

Mixon caught 283 passes in his first 7 seasons, with 89 1st downs and 13 catch & scores.

Montgomery has 231 catches, 96 receiving 1st downs and 4 catch & scores.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Mixon in Nick Caley’s Erhardrt-Perkins offensive scheme, that relies heavily on a smash mouth running attack. With questionable offensive line play, play calling that was often head scratching, and a cadre of rookie running backs, the 2025 Texans run game was… not good.

Against a not-good defense in the early 2025 Baltimore Ravens, Montgomery feasted:

But this is also the Ravens defense that made the Texans offense look elite in 2025. So, don’t expect to see the 2nd coming of Earl Campbell or Arian Foster based on that highlight reel. Montgomery is, however, a very solid replacement for the man of mystery known as Mixon.

After Caserio is done rebuilding the offensive line in 2026, it may take several games for the new faces in new places to work together as a cohesive unit. What does that mean for David Montgomery? He’ll need to be patient, use his elite vision and pick his lanes carefully in the early season.

If Caley is smart, he may use Montgomery sparingly in the 1st quarter of the season, hammering the younger backs into the rapidly closing A-gaps instead of pouring the hits on the veteran. But, the NFL rarely exemplifies patience when it comes to “playing with the new toys”.

While Houston is still likely to spend some prime draft picks on offensive linemen, they might call the name of a rookie running back. Granted, Woody Marks, Jahwar Jordan and British Brooks can still get the gains if the play calling and o-line works as it should.

The trade for Montgomery wasn’t the jaw-dropper that grabs headlines and gets the talking heads of NFL media yammering for days, but it was a solid, smart move for the Texans. A move that should pay solid dividends and take a lot of pressure off quarterback C.J. Stroud. Now, if they can keep D-Mo away from the Twilight Zone and the Bermuda Triangle that would be great.

No matter what happens, we’ll always have this: