Fantasy Impact: Houston selects Sam Montgomery

With the #95 pick in the 2013 NFL draft the Houston Texans selected Sam Montgomery (LSU). Montgomery fits the Texans' 3-4 scheme well. He'll battle Antonio Smith for playing time opposite star end J.J. Watt. The LSU product should be a nice contributor as Houston attempts a deep playoff run.

Sam Montgomery is a big physical defensive end. At 6'3″ 262 he holds his ground well against the run, is violent at the point of attack and can get to the quarterback. He shows some short area quickness and burst. However, he does not display the type of flexibility and bend required of an NFL pass rusher to get the corner on the elite offensive tackles at the next level. He's also slow off the ball at times.

At LSU he was able to get to the quarterback but played alongside a lot of top end talent. At times he was used more as an interior rusher with stunts and shifts due to his lack of speed on the corner. However, he is a good run defender and is able to anchor against double teams. He shows good second effort in the pass rush and doesn't quit when chasing down runners or opposite field plays.

There are some question marks about his work ethic. He didn't show much improvement between his junior and senior seasons. There was a report about him not playing with 100% effort in games against lesser competition and he was on LSU strength coach Tommy Moffitt's infamous list of players who have “missed workouts and always have an excuse.”

College statistics courtesy of Sports Reference

Fantasy Impact

As a 3-4 end Montgomery will only have value in the deepest dynasty formats. One positive is that so much attention will be given to J.J. Watt that Montgomery will end up in a lot of one-on-one matchups. With that said, in this system he won't be expected to get to the quarterback and that's not his strength, which is why it's a nice team fit but not an ideal IDP situation. He could be looking at fairly productive tackle numbers if he plays a lot of snaps. However, in most IDP leagues that's not enough point scoring potential out of a defensive end.