Whenever a fantasy football manager hears the word trade, their ears perk up. But that is because it usually involves players in their league. Trades involving marquee names in the National Football League, however, are not overly common. Yet, Monday morning saw one of the bigger ones in recent memory.
The Detroit Lions traded running back David Montgomery to the Houston Texans. In exchange, the Lions received a fourth and seventh-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
They also received offensive guard Juice Scruggs, whom the Texans selected in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
This trade will understandably change the outlook for both Detroit’s and Houston’s offenses next season. But it will also have large ramifications for fantasy football managers when the 2026 season rolls around.
So, let’s dive into what the Montgomery trade to the Texans means for fantasy managers.
David Montgomery’s 2026 Fantasy Football Outlook
On its face, this is a massive upgrade for Montgomery’s fantasy stock.
He was receiving the smaller of the timeshare with Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit. The arrow was pointing in the wrong direction for Montgomery, too. In 2024, the rushing splits were 250-185 in favor of Gibbs, who also caught 16 more passes on 25 more targets. But last season, the difference was more pronounced.
Gibbs had a similar lead in rushing attempts. But in the passing game, he took over completely. Montgomery garnered just 24 catches on 29 targets, compared to 77 and 94, respectively, for Gibbs.
Now, he will likely take on a much larger role in Houston.
The Texans backfield has been a hot mess lately. Joe Mixon missed the entire season amid concerning yet quiet circumstances. They brought in Nick Chubb, who after ACL surgery, appears to be a shell of his former self.
Meanwhile, rookie running back Woody Marks took the lion’s share of Houston’s production out of the backfield. While he showed glimpses, his 3.6 yards per carry on 196 totes is alarming.
So, can fantasy football managers just expect Montgomery to be a borderline RB1 in Houston this year? The answer is very simple.
No.
Montgomery’s career received a boost when he landed in Detroit in 2023. All of his numbers went up dramatically behind one of the NFL’s best offensive lines. Now, he will play behind arguably the worst run-blocking O-Line in the league.
That is a big difference for a player with Montgomery’s skill set. The soon-to-be 29-year-old tailback does not possess the lateral quickness to avoid tackles in the backfield. He is a downhill runner who, when he picks up steam, can take 5-yard gains into 20-yard chunks. But he does not have enough burst to take 50-yarders to the house.
Plus, Marks is not simply going to go away. He has excellent hands out of the backfield and will play a large role, also.
So, while Montgomery’s fantasy outlook has improved, it has not drastically. Do not target him as anything more than a middling RB2 in fantasy football drafts next year. If he is your RB1 or you do not have depth at the position, trouble looms.
Jahmyr Gibbs is the Big Winner in Fantasy
It was going to be hard for fantasy football managers to avoid drafting Gibbs anything lower than the fourth or fifth pick. Even that would require the league to lean more into receivers with three WR slots in full PPR (point-per-reception).
But the Montgomery trade to the Texans opens the door for his biggest workload yet.
Gibbs is coming off another stellar season in Detroit. He rushed for 1,223 yards on 243 carries, scoring 13 times on the ground. His role in the passing game increased, as previously mentioned.
With the Lions having so many weapons at Jared Goff’s disposal, it is hard to see him garnering much more than the 94 targets he had in 2025. But he is staring at his biggest workload rushing the football in 2026.
The only player that fantasy managers can even debate about taking ahead of Gibbs is Bijan Robinson. But unlike Gibbs, Robinson’s backup and red-zone poacher, Tyler Allgeier, is still in town.
I am drafting the 23-year-old Gibbs first overall in any fantasy football league I can. You should do the same.
The post David Montgomery trade: Fantasy Football fallout from Texans-Lions deal appeared first on ClutchPoints.
