Houston Texans Release Phillip Lindsay

The Houston Texans have the worst run offense in the NFL. They are averaging 3.2 yards a carry, worst in the league, and they are 31st in run offense DVOA at -36.0%. The Texans’ running backs are terrible. The run blocking is just as bad. The team who wanted to run the ball is abysmal at it.

The Texans rolled out David Johnson, Rex Burkhead, Phillip Lindsay, and Mark Ingram as their running backs this season. Ingram was the best of the bunch and was traded to New Orleans for a 2024 7th round pick, opening the door for Burkhead to have more carries. Last week, Burkhead led the team with 18. Johnson is pretty much just a wide receiver at this point. Lindsay had one carry and lost three yards on it against the Titans. It was the beginning of the end, or the end of the end, for one of those running backs.

In 2021, Lindsay has 50 carries for 130 yards, which comes out to 2.6 yards a carry. He has a rushing DVOA of -22.7%. Over and over again, Lindsay has attempted to bounce runs wide, where he gets snatched up by doing so. He’s too tiny to mash up the middle. He doesn’t offer much in the passing game. The Texans have finally had enough and have released Lindsay from the roster.

Houston added Royce Freeman when Scottie Phillips was placed on IR a couple weeks ago. Freeman has been inactive since then but should be expected to dress when Houston hosts the New York Jets on Sunday.

Many were excited for Lindsay in Houston. It failed. Nick Caserio has moved on. This is Rex Burkhead’s team now.