Who Should I Start? David Montgomery or Kaleb Johnson

Friday, August 28, 7:59 AM

Houston Texans running back David Montgomery has strengthened his redraft outlook as the regular season approaches. Head coach DeMeco Ryans has called Montgomery a "number one back," and Houston has spent much of camp managing the veteran's workload to keep him fresh. When the Texans turned him loose during an August 18 joint practice with Las Vegas, team analyst John Harris called Montgomery the story of the day after he repeatedly found room between the tackles and broke into the second level. The 29-year-old is coming off a career-low 158 carries with Detroit, but he still produced 716 yards and eight touchdowns while averaging 4.5 yards per attempt. Woody Marks remains a real part of the backfield after rushing for 703 yards as a rookie, and his receiving ability should earn him passing-down work. Nothing from camp suggests Montgomery has lost the primary rushing role, though, and he was still taking first-team carries during Houston's final joint practice with Carolina. RotoBaller currently ranks him RB21. With the Texans clearly valuing his physical running style, Montgomery looks increasingly secure as a redraft RB2 with strong touchdown upside.