The Houston Texans are heading into Week 7 against the New York Giants facing another game without their starting running back David Montgomery.
Montgomery, who's been atop the Texans' depth chart at running back since the start of the season, has officially been ruled out for a second straight game with a groin issue.
The injury isn't expected to sideline him for much longer, but with another full week of no practice for the veteran back, he'll be out for at least one more contest.
For the Texans' run game, it does shake up the calculus a bit in the short term. Woody Marks will be the lead ball carrier in Week 7 as he was last weekend against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and veteran Dare Ogunbowale projects to be Houston's RB2 as Jawhar Jordan has just been placed on their practice squad injured reserve.
However, depending on just how well Marks performs in Week 7 without Montgomery competing for carries, there might be a runway in place for the second-year runner to claim the role as Houston's starting running back moving forward.
Could Woody Marks Soon Become Texans' RB1?
Throughout last week's game against the Jaguars, when Marks was tasked to be the Texans' lead ball carrier, he shined when given the opportunity––especially knowing that Jacksonville walked into Week 6 viewed as one of the best rushing defenses in the entire NFL.
Marks ran the ball 15 times for a total of 56 yards on the ground, while also hauling in two receptions for 23 yards. He looked explosive, was more efficient on the ground than he had been all season, and also made an impact in the passing game that boosts his overall stock in this offense.
And the trust that Houston has in Marks as an offensive weapon was shown clearly through his offensive snap count. Marks was on the field for 78% of the total offensive snaps, and saw a touch come his way on over a third of the plays he was out there.
So heading into this weekend, the stage will be set for Marks to have similar usage.
Without Montgomery or Jordan, Marks feels due for a confident 80% or more of the snaps. And against a rushing defense like the Giants, who host ranked bottom-five in the NFL for average yards allowed, there's a real chance that he comes out to have an even bigger performance in Week 7 than what he put out last week.
If Marks Has a Big Week 7, Things Could Get Interesting
Let's say if Marks pops off for another big week against the Giants. The Texans' run game is flowing for two straight weeks, he's making plays on the ground and in the passing game, and starts to really give Houston some dynamic playmaking ability in the backfield that was severely lacking through the first five weeks.
If that happens to be the case, it's going to become real challenging for the Texans to come out of the bye week with a healthy David Montgomery and give him a higher share of the workload than Marks.
Since Montgomery's Week 1 debut where he recorded three total touchdowns on the Buffalo Bills, it's been extremely tough for the veteran running back to be an impactful playmaker for this offense.
He's averaging a career low in rushing yards per game (27.6), has the same result for his yards per carry (2.7), and might be in a running back room with a more talented runner––at least at this point in time in their careers. A breakout Week 7 performance for Marks would only strengthen that case to take away more touches from Montgomery.
So keep a close eye on how Marks performs against the Giants this coming weekend, because a strong night on his part could be just the push he needs to get a higher workload to come his way for the second half of the season.
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