“Dameon Pierce, if you’re in his way, he’s going to run you over. That’s the one tidbit I can give about him.”
That’s what Houston Texans rookie safety Jalen Pitre said a couple days ago about his new teammate, Houston Texans rookie running back Dameon Pierce. This was after Pierce made Pitre the latest defender who learned that getting in Pierce’s way is generally a Bad Idea.
On Saturday, when the Texans faced off against the New Orleans Saints, it was the Saints’ defense that learned this simple truth.
Feed Dameon Pierce pic.twitter.com/i6YV7ZFUBT
— Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) August 14, 2022
The bounce to the opening, the contact balance, the short-area quickness — these were all on display when Pierce played his college ball at Florida, and it’s why I viewed him as the top player at his position in the 2022 draft class.
Why Florida’s Dameon Pierce is the best running back in the 2022 NFL draft
But Pierce was the seventh back taken in this class — he lasted until the second pick in the fourth round, when the Texans happily snapped him up. Why did he fall so far? It could be that he wasn’t featured often enough in college; former Florida head coach Dan Mullen had a weird idea about running back committees, despite the fact that he had this guy on his roster. He was also debited by some for a lack of top-end third-level speed… but to this, I say: Ask Georgia’s historically great 2021 defense about that. He seemed plenty fast creating explosive plays against a defense that generally didn’t allow them.
“[Dameon Pierce] is a tough guy,” Texans head coach Lovie Smith said earlier this month. “You see him work in special teams and a little bit of return game to him. He can run in between tackles and can make you miss a little bit in the open field.”
The secret is out. The guy that Dan Mullen didn’t know how to use could very well be the Houston’s Texans’ most impressive young playmaker when the regular season gets underway.