Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Marlon Mack will stay with the AFC South in 2022 but with a different team. Mack, a former Colts 1,000-yard rusher, signs with the Houston Texans. according to to ESPN.
A fourth-round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, Mack rose to the top of the Colts’ depth chart in 2018, rushing for 908 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games. The following season, Mack was the focal point of the Colts’ offense after Andrew Luck’s abrupt retirement in the preseason. That season he rushed for a career-high 1,091 yards for eight rushing touchdowns in 14 games.
A lacerated Achilles injury in Week 1 of the 2020 season sidelined Mack for the remainder of that season. He appeared in just six games last season, gaining 101 yards on 28 carries. The Colts’ running game during this time was taken over by Jonathan Taylor, who rushed for nearly 1,200 yards as a rookie in 2020 before leading the NFL with 1,811 yards and 18 touchdowns last season. Despite Taylor’s success, the Colts missed the playoffs after losing their last two games to the Raiders and Jaguars.
Mack goes from a crowded backfield in Indianapolis to a fairly empty one in Houston. Former Patriot Rex Burkhead was scheduled to start as the team’s running back before signing Mack Friday, who faced the Texans five times as a member of the Colts. Houston came off a 4-13 season in which they finished last in the NFL in rushing and 30th overall.