Texans continue looking for help in RB room

After finishing 23rd in rushing in 2023 without a 1,000-yard rusher for the fourth season in a row, the Texans invested some draft capital to acquire former Bengals rusher Joe Mixon. With diminishing returns from Dameon Pierce, who is headed into a contract year, and the lack of a true receiving back, Houston has been making attempts throughout the offseason to bring competition to the room.

The Texans carried five running backs (Mixon, Pierce, Dare Ogunbowale, J.J. Taylor, and British Brooks) on their 53-man roster last year. All five return to the roster in 2025, as does practice-squad rusher from last year Jawhar Jordan, but that hasn’t stopped Houston from exploring plenty of other options. To start, the team drafted USC back Woody Marks in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. Additionally, the team hosted veterans Nyheim Hines, Chris Evans, and Trayveon Williams for a workout yesterday, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2.

Hines is certainly an interesting option who is extremely familiar with the AFC South after spending parts of six years with the Colts. He split the 2022 season between Indianapolis and Buffalo and hasn’t appeared in a game since. He missed the entire 2023 NFL season after tearing his ACL in a jet ski incident in the offseason, and after getting released and signing with the Browns, Hines was unable to make a return in 2024. Although Hines hasn’t appeared in a game in over two years, he’s an intriguing option based on the receiving abilities he displayed over his time with the Colts; he actually has more career receiving yards (1,778) than rushing yards (1,202). He’s also been a prolific return man in his career.

Williams and Evans signing with Houston would be an interesting development as it would reunite them with Mixon and put three former Bengals in the Texans’ running backs room. Williams, a sixth-round pick in 2019, is a Texas-native who went to college at Texas A&M. Over six seasons with Cincinnati, he only accumulated 307 rushing yards and 74 receiving yards with no scores. He does add some special teams value as a kickoff return man.

Evans, a sixth-round pick in 2021, only has 89 rushing yards (no touchdowns rushing) in his four years with the team, but he showed more as a receiving back with 188 yards and three scores. Like Hines, though, he has a recent injury history after a ruptured patellar tendon kept him out of the Bengals’ 2024 campaign.

No signings resulted immediately from the workouts, but all three veteran options seem to be likely candidates to add some competition to the room. If not, Marks may be the easiest answer. The rookie showed significant receiving potential at Mississippi State with a 502-yard three touchdown season in 2021, but his fifth-year senior season with the Trojans saw him contribute much more as a rusher than a receiver.