QUESTION #5: Are we concerned about the overall depth in the RB room?

Summary

Payne & Pendergast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: QUESTION #5: Are we concerned about the overall depth in the RB room?
Release Date: July 23, 2026
Hosts: Sean Pendergast & Brandon Scott (filling in for Seth Payne)
Main Theme: Evaluating the depth, talent, and construction of the Houston Texans’ running back (RB) room entering training camp.

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1. Episode Overview

This episode is part of a pre-training-camp countdown series where each day the hosts tackle a burning Texans question. Question #5 – and the focus here – centers on whether the Texans’ running back room has enough depth to weather the rigors of the upcoming season. With new faces and returning contributors, Sean and Brandon break down the position group, share their comfort level, and what scenarios keep them up at night.

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2. Key Discussion Points & Insights

A. Who’s in the 2026 Texans Running Back Room?

(Timestamp: 02:50)

• David Montgomery: Newly acquired veteran expected to lead the room.
• Woody Marks: Young back looking to build on an up-and-down rookie campaign.
• Jawar Jordan: Flashed potential last season.
• British Brooks: Reliable Swiss army knife, strong on special teams, some fullback versatility.

  “British Brooks has turned himself into kind of a nice sort of backfield Swiss army knife with a little bit of fullback chops going on too.” — Payne [03:19]

• Undrafted free agents: Noah Whittington (Oregon), Joshua Pitzenberger.

B. Is the Depth Good Enough… or a Problem?

(Timestamps: 04:04 – 08:39)

• Initial comfort:

  “I actually like it. I am not as concerned about the depth with the running back room as say I would be... But running back, I’m actually cool with the Depth.” — Pendergast [04:04]

• Turning Point – The Injury Question:

  “If one of the two of those guys gets hurt, then I do think that my answer does suddenly change because now you're putting...let’s say David Montgomery gets hurt and you're right back to square one where you were last year... I would be a little bit concerned about that.” — Pendergast [05:04]

• Context of ‘Depth’: Both agree the room looks solid if healthy, but true depth means being able to survive injuries—the number one running back concern.

  “You can like the way the room looks as is healthy, which it sounds like you do and I do as well. But depth is a different. That's a different topic.” — Payne [05:44]

• David Montgomery’s Role and Risks:
  Montgomery isn’t an elite, top-10 back, but embodies the style the Texans want (physical, tough yardage). He’s also at the running back age cliff.

  “David Montgomery is not Nick Chubb...he saw his playing time diminished...because one of the best two or three running backs in football [Jahmyr Gibbs]...But he got put on the back burner... He's 29 now too. I think we need to factor that in.” — Payne [05:45] “He is exactly what this team wants to be offensively.” — Payne [07:04]

• Woody Marks’ Durability Question:

  “Woody Marks...now, now you're really kind of flirting with disaster there because David...now nothing can happen to David Montgomery or you're back to the Jawar Jordan game and credit to him when he stepped in. But that's not a place where you want to be...” — Pendergast [08:07]

• ‘Committee’ or Feature Back?
  The consensus: Try not to overwork any single back. Avoid “Joe Mixon” 300-carry scenarios.

  “I think it’s important that neither guy...get run into the ground, let’s say the way that Joe Mixon did two years ago.” — Pendergast [10:29]

C. The "Lead-Back Split" Report – What Does RB Usage Look Like?

(Timestamps: 11:03 – 12:31)

• Reaction to Jane Slater’s report:
  Slater reported that Montgomery and Marks will “split” lead back reps, but later clarified it won’t be 50/50—Montgomery will get the bigger share.

  “The report was split lead back reps. And then she clarified...this won’t be an even split.” — Payne [11:21] “That clarification also makes that not a report because that's how one, two running back rotation...works.” — Pendergast [11:53]

• Preferred division of labor:

  “I'd like to see 60/40 touches, maybe 65/35 with Montgomery and Woody, except in short yardage situations. And I want it to be 95/5 David Montgomery.” — Payne [12:07]

• Why Montgomery suits the Texans’ style:

  “He was brought in, I think, to get tough yards for you...Montgomery is more of that to a tee and Woody Marks...profiles as a good change of pace guy but then also showed you that he can run between the tackles in a pinch and in a relief role.” — Pendergast [12:31]

D. Should the Texans Add More to the Room?

(Timestamps: 10:12 – 10:28)

• Both express openness to signing a veteran, perhaps even Nick Chubb, as insurance.

  “I wouldn't mind seeing them bring in a veteran guy to have in that room and just see how he looks in camp. And if it fits, then great.” — Payne [10:12]

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3. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “If either one of the top two guys goes down, I’m going to be tremendously concerned about it to the point where—”
  — Pendergast [08:07]

• “All the things they were doing on the offensive line in the off season dictated very clearly. They want to be a more physical football team. They want to be the offensive version of what the defense is...David Montgomery’s that at running back.”
  — Payne [07:04]

• “I answered this question incorrectly at the top of it because once you think about it...If anything happens to David Montgomery, we're back to square one.”
  — Pendergast [07:52]

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4. Important Timestamps

• 02:50 – Full rundown of the RB room members
• 04:04 – Initial concern levels and true definition of ‘depth’
• 05:44-08:07 – Injury implications and what happens if the top two backs miss time
• 10:12 – Should the Texans bring in a veteran RB (like Nick Chubb)?
• 11:03-12:31 – Discussion of Jane Slater’s “split carries” report and ideal division

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5. Conclusion: Room for Cautious Optimism

• Bottom Line: The Texans’ RB room looks solid on paper as long as everyone stays healthy. But both hosts come around to a consensus: if either Montgomery or Marks goes down, the room’s depth—and Houston’s rush attack—would be in jeopardy. The addition of a veteran insurance policy would be welcomed, and smart rotation/committee management is a must for 2026.

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Episode Tone: Relatable, analytical, and candid—a blend of measured optimism and honest concern for the RB group’s durability.

Best For: Texans fans seeking honest pre-camp position analysis; listeners who value in-depth discussion over hype.

Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Payne]

It is refreshing.

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[Payne]

Live from the West Point Lincoln and West Point Lincoln of Sugarland Studios, here's Payne and Pendergast. It was a big day here yesterday and we're going to recap it at 7 o'. Clock. If you missed it. Sports radio 610. It was almost like a gender reveal. Yesterday we revealed that we will be becoming 95. 7 the Fan on August 13th way that's the birth.

[Pendergast]

Way cooler than 95% of the gender reveals that. I see.

[Payne]

Yes, it was awesome.

[Pendergast]

Way cooler than that.

[Payne]

We're going to replay the announcement of that at 7 o' clock and tell you guys kind of the if you have questions about it. B Scott and I are going to do sort of a frequently asked question, an faq, if you will.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Payne]

And if you got questions on it, send them in on the text page. I would say wait till closer to 7 o' clock to send the questions just so we'll see them at that time.

[Pendergast]

YouTube chat can get active though. Yes, I can see you guys in there now. Hit us up.

[Payne]

He's got the YouTube open so we'll do that at 7 o'. Clock. We'll do headlines in the next segment. 10 days till camp. We're in. We're counting down. This is 5 Days Radio Radio days. Yeah, until camp gets here today, tomorrow and then the first practice is on Wednesday. So the Final question in the series of questions we're doing will be Wednesday just before practice begins next week. So. And we're doing it in this segment every day.

[Pendergast]

And I'm in with you within all of these days leading up, I think

[Payne]

all of them except the last. Except the actual day. Seth is back for the first day of practice.

[Pendergast]

Right.

[Payne]

That'll be question number one. But you're here if. And if you want to. If you want to throw question number four out there tomorrow.

[Pendergast]

Oh, I don't mind. Yeah, definitely. I've been keeping up with all of Yalls questions leading up to this point as well with Cole and even since he's been gone. So. Yeah, all of them.

[Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. So tomorrow B. Scott will bring question number four to the table.

[Pendergast]

Yes.

[Payne]

Are we consider question number five. Are we concerned about the overall depth in the running back room? And let's just list here real quick what the running back room looks like. It's the newly acquired David Montgomery I think a lot of people are very excited about. It's Woody Marks trying to build off of what he did in, in his rookie season. And in a perfect world, probably do it in a bit of a different way than he did his rookie season. Jawar Jordan is still here. He flashed last year. British Brooks has turned himself into kind of a nice sort of backfield Swiss army knife with a little bit of fullback chops going on too.

[Pendergast]

And a special teams demon.

[Payne]

And yes. Loves to wallop you on special teams.

[Commercial Announcer]

Yes.

[Payne]

And then they've got. And if I'm missing anybody, tell me B. Scott. But they got a couple kind of intriguing undrafted guys in camp. They didn't draft anybody, which was a little surprising. But Noah Whittington out of, out of Oregon, and then Joshua Pitzenberger is the other running back that is. That's in that room right now. So I think I got everybody. I checked the depth charts online. I think that's. I think that's the extent of the room. So I'll put it to you, B. Scott, and then I'll. Let's do. I'm gonna see what your take is on this and we go back and forth. How are you feeling about the depth in this running back room?

[Pendergast]

I actually like it. I'm. I am not as concerned about the depth with the running back room as say I would be. Like tight end is a question. And I think we've discussed that in, you know, in this show and in other places in the past. But running back, I'm actually cool with the Depth. I think the argument against the running back room is honestly the overall talent of it and even the top end of it. If you're talking about David Montgomery, who we all can agree and believe is going to be their lead back, like, how do you feel about David Montgomery per se? And I think there are some, like, there's excitement. But I think you can legitimately question if that's like you could do better than that as your top running back in a committee. He's obviously been great in Detroit, but David Montgomery and a Woody Marks as a one, two punch, I am totally comfortable with. I will say, and maybe I'm contradicting myself a little bit here because if one of those guys were to get hurt, and I guess that's what depth ultimately is.

[Payne]

Yes.

[Pendergast]

If one of the two of those guys gets hurt, then I do think that my, my answer does suddenly change because now you're putting, let's say David Montgomery gets hurt and you're right back to square one where you were last year. Yeah, I would say that that's a concern. And if Woody Marks were to get hurt and it's just David Montgomery and then Jawar Jordan and that list of characters that you, that you had after that, British Brooks of the world, I would be a little bit concerned about that. As presently constructed. I'm comfortable with it. If you, if one of those guys gets hurt, I guess I would be concerned. So I'll change my answer midstream. There. There's a slight concern about the depth.

[Payne]

Because we're talking about depth.

[Pendergast]

Yeah, yeah, that is a slight concern.

[Payne]

And depth injuries factor into that conversation,

[Pendergast]

especially at this position.

[Payne]

Because two things can be true. You can like the way the room looks as is healthy, which it sounds like you do and I do as well. But depth is a different. That's a different topic. And I think, I just think back to last year and David Montgomery is not Nick Chubb. And all due respect to Nick Chubb, I mean, obviously he was working, coming off of multiple injuries and he looked his age last year. Yeah, David Montgomery, he saw his playing time diminished. Not because he's not good or cause he looked his age. Cause he's 29 now too. I think we need to factor that in. Like he's beyond the age of when running backs start to show some wear and tear. But he got put on the back burner because one of the best two or three running backs in football and maybe the biggest Swiss army knife of any back in football. Like an elite Swiss army knife. Yeah, you Like a very sharp knife.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Payne]

The best nail file that you can have.

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[Payne]

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[Pendergast]

Yes.

[Payne]

Jameer Gibbs. You'd be silly in Detroit, especially while he's still getting paid like a rookie to not just use as much Jameer Gibbs as you possibly can.

[Pendergast]

Yeah. Jer Gibbs and Bijon Robinson are that new wave of running back. A class of their own. Right now.

[Payne]

They're in a class of their own. That's a good way to put it.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Payne]

And so. So I. So I like David Montgomery. You're right. I don't think he's going to show up on the top 10 running backs list of anybody.

[Pendergast]

No.

[Payne]

But I think he is. He is exactly embodies what this team wants to be offensively. All the things they were doing on the offensive line in the off season that dictated very clearly. They want to be a more physical football team. They want to be the offensive version of what the defense is.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Payne]

David Montgomery's at a running back. That's. But that's my concern. If something happens to him, then you are back to Woody Marks being in a role that I think last year showed he's like, maybe physically not totally up to.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Payne]

He left a lot of games, came back to his credit. He's a tough kid.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Payne]

But I just. I've always felt that, boy, in this offseason, even before they got Montgomery, if they can go get a guy who's a lead guy, it's almost like you're getting one and a half running backs because you're getting a better version of Woody marks.

[Pendergast]

Yeah. No. 100%. I answered this question incorrectly at the top of it because once you think about it, the. I'm comfortable as presently presented, as currently presented. But if anything happens to David Montgomery, we're back to square run to square one.

[Payne]

Back to 20, 25.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Payne]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

And then honestly, if anything happens to Woody Marks, I feel like they. Now, now you're really kind of flirting with disaster there because David. Now nothing can happen to David Montgomery or you're back to the Jawar Jordan game and credit to him when he stepped in. But that's not a place where you want to be. So you can't say, I cannot in good conscience say I'm totally comfortable or not concerned at all with the death when. If either one of the top two guys goes down, I'm going to be tremendously concerned about it to the point where.

[Payne]

And I haven't looked at the list of who's out there, you know, like of the. The Nick Chubb.

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[Pendergast]

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[Payne]

podcast terms apply this year, right? Which one of them is probably Nick Chubb? I don't think he signed with anybody. I wouldn't mind seeing them bring in a veteran guy to have in that room and just see how he looks in camp. And if he, if it fits then great. That, that wouldn't bother me if they did that.

[Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Payne]

Texans.

[Pendergast]

Yeah. Now I will say like as far as the workload because since we are speaking to the point about, you know, injuries and all of that, I do think it's important to treat it as a committee as much as you can or as best as possible. Now they're, I think their performance and their actual production is going to dictate how the carries are going to be allocated. But I do think it's important that neither guy, even though Woody Marks is a younger guy and of course David Montgomery has tread on the tire, I think it's important that neither guy get run into the ground, let's say the way that Joe Mixon did two years ago.

[Payne]

Did you See Jane Slater's report that they're expected to split the load, the two of them. I did see Montgomery and Woody Marks

[Pendergast]

and I saw some of the reaction on our station yesterday. I found it to be interesting.

[Payne]

She clarified. Well, my first reaction was, okay, split can mean any number of things. Sometimes people assume split means 50, 50. Like no.

[Pendergast]

So did she not say 5050 in her report? Because all I saw was us reacting.

[Payne]

The report was split lead back reps. And then she clarified, she, she said, she said this won't be an even split.

[Pendergast]

Oh, okay.

[Payne]

She clarified. On Twitter, I'm told David Montgomery will have slightly more here, but the vision, and it's early is for Woody Marks to build on last season, especially with the help of Montgomery, and hopefully see a significant amount of reps. How that shakes out tbd. Woody played last year because he was their best guy, which he was. He was a better football player than Nick Chubb. I think there's a good chance Woody Marks is not a better football player than David Montgomery at this stage of his career.

[Pendergast]

I agree. Now, I don't want to crap on or disrespect Jane Slater, who's been at it for a long time, but that also, that clarification also makes that not a report because that's how one, two running back rotation. That's how the pecking order works.

[Payne]

I'd like to see, I'd like, this is what I'd like to see. B. Scott, Brandon in for Seth today. I'd like to see 60, 40 touches, maybe 65, 35 with with Montgomery and Woody, except in short yarded situations. And I want it to be 95. 5 David Montgomery.

[Pendergast]

I think that's the ideal scenario.

[Payne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pendergast]

I mean that, that exact.

[Payne]

He was brought in, I think to get tough yards for you.

[Pendergast]

I think that's supports the point that you were just making about Woody Marks. I'm sorry about David Montgomery. More so fitting the identity of what they want to be in the style that they want to play with and how they want to run. David Montgomery is more of that to a tee and Woody Marks, to his credit, I think he's a good like he profiles as a good change of pace guy but then also showed you that he can run between the tackles in a pinch and in a relief role.

[Payne]

Absolutely. All right, coming up next, headlines, Astros win last night. Hey, Rockets made a move on the coaching staff. I'm anxious to get B. Scott's thoughts on this. One of the four hosts on the Rockets collective, right, B. Scott.

[Pendergast]

That is right.

[Payne]

Yeah.

[Pendergast]

So I'm looking forward actually hosting tonight, so I'm looking forward to that.

[Payne]

Good deal. All right, well there you go. And and we'll talk some rockets a little later on in the show as well. We're still on LeBron watch too for you general basketball fans out there. So we'll get to all that in headlines.

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[Payne]

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[Payne]

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