Texans waive RB Noah Whittington

Whittington (5’8”/205) is a sixth-year back who started his career at Western Kentucky in 2020. As a sophomore, he posted a 102-619-2 rushing line while averaging an impressive 6.1 YPC, and averaged over 6.0 YPC in three of his seasons, although one was an abbreviated 2023 campaign at Oregon due to a torn ACL. Whittington is a short, compact runner who looks like a bowling ball going through the defense, but he lacks the explosiveness to break to the second level and has an average missed-tackle force rate of 19.1 percent. Whitington never handled a true bell cow workload at Oregon, and profiles as a rotational back. In 44 career games with the Ducks, he averaged just 10.9 touches per game. What value he has in the passing game is more as a blocker than a receiver, as he never totaled more than 169 receiving yards in a season despite finishing his career with 88 receptions. Per Dane Brugler’s The Beast,’ Whitington is described by scouts as an “all-football guy.” He won’t earn a meaningful role as a rookie out of camp, but his willingness to play special teams and ability as a kick returner (19 career kick returns) give him multiple avenues to earn a roster spot.