Woody Marks: Everything you need to know

New teammate David Montgomery is expected to replace Marks as Houston's starting running back, ESPN.com's DJ Bien-Aime reports. The Texans gave up a fourth-round pick, a seventh-round pick and OL Juice Scruggs in exchange for Montgomery, who has one season remaining on a three-year contract. A new deal may be coming soon. Either way, Marks likely will be No. 2 on the depth chart at the start of the offseason program, after posting a 198-703-2 rushing line (3.6 YPC) during the regular season of his 2025 rookie campaign (16 games, eight starts). Fellow second-year pro Jawhar Jordan should be back to compete for a depth role in Houston's backfield this spring, while veterans Nick Chubb and Joe Mixon (foot) don't seem to be part of the plan for 2026.

Marks carried the ball 14 times for 17 yards and caught two of three targets for 19 yards during the Texans' 28-16 loss to the Patriots in the divisional round Sunday. He also lost a fumble. Houston couldn't get much of anything going on the ground, and Marks' turnover was one of five by the Texans and eight in total by both teams in cold, wet conditions at Foxborough. Marks went the entire regular season without losing a fumble, so ball security shouldn't be an issue for him in 2026, and the fourth-round pick out of USC had a successful rookie campaign with 911 scrimmage yards and five total TDs in 16 games. It remains to be seen whether the Texans will look to expand his role next year or bring in a back more adept at running between the tackles to work in tandem with Marks.

Marks (shoulder) returned to Sunday's divisional-round game against the Patriots, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports. Marks had exited the contest to have his shoulder checked out, but he was subsequently deemed able to return to action. He'll continue to pace Houston's backfield in a game in which two of the team's top pass catchers, Nico Collins (concussion) and TE Dalton Schultz (calf), are unavailable.