Running back has arguably been a position of need for the Houston Texans since the 2019 offseason.
Instead of drafting young talent, the Texans have delved into the free agency pool, traded for once prolific veterans, and added familiar faces from other places.
One familiar face that emerged as the Texans’ lead running back near the end of the 2021 season is Rex Burkhead, who re-signed with Houston. However, the 31-year-old can’t reasonably be Houston’s lead back for another season, and general manager Nick Caserio talked about how the team will approach running back in the offseason.
“There are a number of players at that position that are going to be free agents, guys that made contributions for us last year,” Caserio said at the NFL combine on March 1. “We were able to re-sign Rex at the end of the year, kind of extend him into this season. I’d say Rex’s role grew as the year progressed, probably more out of need more than anything else. But that’s probably a position that we’ll evaluate as we go.”
Burkhead carried 122 times for 427 yards and three touchdowns while catching 25 passes for 186 yards through 16 games, five of which he started. The former Cincinnati Bengal and New England Patriot also recorded Houston’s lone 100-yard rushing game of the season in Week 16 as he carried 22 times for 149 yards and two touchdowns in the 41-29 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Caserio knows Houston will have to spend resources, whether in free agency or the draft, on running back.
Said Caserio: “We only have three players under contract currently. Rex is one, Scottie Phillips, and then Darius Anderson, who signed as a reserve future player there after the season. It’s probably a position that we’ll kind of evaluate here during the offseason, how we build it out. I think it’s yet to be determined.”
The last time the Texans drafted a running back in the top-100 was in 2017 when they spent a third-round pick on D’Onta Foreman (No. 89 overall) from Texas.