With Houston Texans’ top running back, David Montgomery, out for their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, Houston’s offense is turning to Woody Marks who was the Texans’ leading rusher last season.
Offensive coordinator Nick Caley saw Marks improve a lot throughout training camp, giving him a lot of confidence in his second year back since last year.
"He's explosive. He can put his foot in the ground and be a slash runner,” Caley said. “He's got good play speed. He does a good job in pass protection as well, not to mention the run game stuff and in the pass game he can catch the ball and make people miss. Open field explosiveness, decisiveness as a runner and I just think he's improved so much dating back to even spring when we had
him out there and into Training Camp and continuing to get better through the early part of the season. So, I've been really pleased with his development."
In Houston’s 26-3 win over the Tennessee Titans, Marks took over in the first quarter for Montgomery as the lead back. He finished the game with 4.1 yards per attempt and 62 total rushing yards. Marks was also involved in the passing game, catching all four of his targets for 23 yards.
Woody Marks RB1 season on Sunday pic.twitter.com/MfnVLQVmkP
— big ounce (@_bigounce) October 14, 2026
However, Marks has a difficult matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars this coming Sunday in London. The Jaguars have one of the best run defenses in the NFL, allowing just 210 rushing yards to running backs through the first five games. But they have also allowed nearly 200 receiving yards to backs, which could help Marks stay involved in the offense and serve as an extension of the run game.
Houston needs Marks to be involved in this game if they are going to come away with the win and get to 2-4 after starting the season 0-4.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Nick Caley says Texans RB Woody Marks has good speed and is explosive
