Phillip Lindsay vs. David Johnson vs. Mark Ingram: Who Will Lead the Texans Backfield?

The Houston Texans enter the 2021 season with three running backs looking for carries in their backfield; Phillip Lindsay, David Johnson and Mark Ingram. How these backs are going to be used however, remains to be seen.

WynnBET has Phillip Lindsay as the most likely rushing yards leader of the trio in Week 1, with his rushing yards total set at 37.5, compared to Ingram’s total of 27.5 rushing yards, and Johnson’s 19.5 rushing yards. 

Lindsay, who has two 1,000-yard rushing seasons under his belt, enters the 2021 season as a wildcard after his playing time as a Denver Bronco diminished in 2020. Despite sharing a backfield with Melvin Gordon, Lindsay still picked up 502 yards in just 11 games.

Ingram, the elder man of this backfield, at the age of 31, found himself to be the odd man out of a trio last year in Baltimore, behind J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Ingram only recorded 72 carries in 2020, but still averaged 4.2 yards per carry.

It’s year two in Houston for Johnson, but year one for head coach David Culley. Johnson averaged 4.7 yards per carry last year in 12 games. That was career-high in yards per carry for Johnson, but it wasn't enough for the Texans to hand him the starting job outright this season. 

The offensive line for the Texans is interesting. They weren’t the worst in the league in 2020, and they should be fine in 2021. The right tackle spot will be manned by newcomer Marcus Cannon, who sat out in 2020, and the center spot will be filled by Justin Britt, who is coming out of retirement and returning to the NFL for the first time since 2019. Who knows how good the offensive line can be?

It’ll be a ‘wait and see approach’ to find out who leads this Houston backfield in Week 1, or any point in this season. Oddsmakers seem to think that Lindsay will have the edge in Week 1, but with all three players so close, it's hard to peg a clear favorite to bet on.

With Tyrod Taylor as the starting quarterback, he’ll probably be churning out some yards on the ground himself, too. Good luck to anyone placing a bet on these running backs rushing yards in Week 1. Picking a running back to lead this backfield in rushing yards feels like a wild dart throw.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said it best in his poem “The Arrow and the Song."

“I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to earth, I knew not where.”

Which Texans' running back will have more rushing yards? Make your pick at WynnBET.