Is David Montgomery a Reliable Fantasy Starter?

Footballguys staffers discuss whether David Montgomery can be a reliable fantasy starter as the new RB1 in Houston.

Jason Wood's Is David Montgomery a Reliable Fantasy Starter? Jason Wood Published 04/22/2026

© Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images David Montgomery

We are proud to be among the first, if not the first, to publish full projections for the upcoming season, going live just days after the Super Bowl. Publishing detailed projections in early February comes with trade-offs, not the least of which is a near-total lack of clarity on how free agency, cap transactions, and the NFL draft will reshape rosters.

We've been updating our projections in near real time, including during the recent onslaught of free-agent transactions. This version will remain largely stable until we can layer in the April NFL draft, but stable projections don't mean settled debates.

We have a staff of sharp analysts with sharp takes of their own, so I thought it would be worthwhile to solicit their views on the key coin-toss situations that will shape each team's outlook in the coming months. These are important questions where reasonable, informed people can credibly land in very different places. I asked my colleagues to weigh in with one assumption: they were answering strictly through the lens of a standard 0.5-PPR redraft league.

Houston Texans Coin-Toss Questions


Where do you rank David Montgomery this season?

Maurile: I'd rank David Montgomery around RB20. He'll be the primary running back behind an offense built for a power run game. The reason I stop short of RB1 territory is that Woody Marks is the passing-down back, so Montgomery's receiving ceiling looks capped. In PPR, that keeps him more in the touchdown-driven RB2 bucket than a true fantasy starter.

Andy: Montgomery turns 29 this year, and his main competition for playing time is second-year player Woody Marks. How much Montgomery has left in the tank remains the key question. With Jahmyr Gibbs emerging as a superstar in Detroit, Montgomery saw his carries drop in each of the last two years. Can he handle 200 carries? 250? Marks saw almost 200 rushing attempts last year and will figure prominently in the offense. The key to Montgomery's fantasy success is touchdowns. With 33 over the last three years, he has a high floor. Bottom-end RB2 sounds about right.

Jeff: I've got Montgomery in the RB20-24 range. He's a big upgrade as the primary rusher, and while Woody Marks is there, Montgomery's reliability in the red zone makes him the guy I want for fantasy points.

Jason Wood's Verdict

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