David Montgomery was set to enter the final year of his contract and was looking to be moved, and the Texans granted him that wish. On Monday, March 2, 2026, it was announced that the Detroit Lions were trading running back David Montgomery to the Houston Texans in exchange for offensive lineman Juice Scruggs, a 2026 fourth-round pick, and a 2027 seventh-round pick. The trade became official on Wednesday, March 11, 2026.
This was big news leading up to the start of free agency. For three seasons David Montgomery and running back Jahmyr Gibbs formed one of the most feared running back duos in the league. Both had the ability to be nightmares for defenses. Over the past couple of seasons, Jahmyr Gibbs has elevated his game to an elite level and has become one of the top-tier running backs in the NFL.
The initial impact that this move left on fantasy football was immense. My first thought was that, without Montgomery there to share the workload, Gibbs has to be in contention with Falcons running back Bijan Robinson to be the number one running back on the board in both re-draft and dynasty leagues. Below is a comparison of their total fantasy football numbers since they were drafted in 2023:
| Games Played | PPR | .5PPR | Standard | |
| Bijan Robinson | 51 | 958.8 | 859.8 | 760.8 |
| Jahmyr Gibbs | 49 | 971.9 | 881.4 | 790.9 |
As you can see from this chart, Gibbs has more overall fantasy points than Robinson even while splitting time with Montgomery. If things had stayed the same, I think that Gibbs would need to be vaulted up to the number one running back in the fantasy football rankings. However, at the start of free agency, the Detroit Lions signed former Kansas City Chiefs starting running back Isiah Pacheco.
This move puts Gibbs in a similar situation. He will now share the backfield with Pacheco instead of Montgomery. While having a timeshare is similar, I don’t think Pacheco will eat into Gibbs’ workload the same way Montgomery did. Montgomery has been a much more reliable back over the last four years. Since Pacheco came into the league in 2022, he has had a total of 493.1 PPR fantasy points in 51 games (an average of 9.7 fantasy points per game). Over that same period, Montgomery has totaled 773.5 PPR fantasy points in 61 games (an average of 12.68 fantasy points per game).
Bijan Robinson is the consensus number one running back in rankings right now, but I would argue that Gibbs should be the number one running back. Gibbs has more total points over their three-year career even with the split workload that he has had with Montgomery. Not only that but his new backup running back has averaged almost 3 points less per game than Montgomery has over the last four seasons. With a lesser back up in place I believe Gibbs could still see a larger role than he has in previous seasons.
Now, how does this affect David Montgomery’s fantasy stock? In current dynasty rankings, Montgomery is ranked as the RB29. And in redraft PPR rankings he is ranked as the RB25. Montgomery will be in another split backfield with Woody Marks.
Marks carried the load for most of the season last year with the Texans, but he wasn’t very efficient. He played in 16 games where he averaged 9.4 fantasy points per game and only averaged 3.6 yards per carry. The Texans drafted Woody Marks in the 4th round of the 2025 NFL draft with the intent of using him as more of a third down back, but he ended up being thrust into the starting role.
I fully expect Montgomery to take the majority of the first and second down workload and Marks to be primarily a third down back. This makes Marks more of an RB stash in dynasty leagues. If Montgomery were to go down, he would again need to be used as a replacement.
I think the Texans won this trade. They got an efficient running back that can take some pressure off quarterback C.J. Stroud for the next two seasons. On the other side Detroit got an offensive lineman that provides depth and two Day 3 picks. The picks could turn into something, but initially I like what Houston got out of this deal.
Overall, this deal had some pretty significant impact on both fantasy football and in the real NFL. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds during the upcoming season.
View my 2026 trade tracker here to keep up with all offseason trades.
Take a look at my latest fantasy football rankings here.
Check out more dynasty fantasy football related articles here.
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