Tag: Dameon Pierce fantasy football

Can the Houston Texans sustain two fantasy football RBs?

Will they be able to support both Dameon Pierce and Devin Singletary?

In 2021, the Houston Texans had the worst running attack in the league, rushing for an NFL-low 83.6 yards per game and a woeful 3.4 yards per carry. Although they were only marginally better last year, increasing those numbers to 86.6 yards per game (31st) and 3.7 yards per carry (31st), at least they won’t be starting from scratch again as running back Dameon Pierce proved to be a nice find as a fourth-round selection in the 2022 draft.

Clearly, more help was needed, however, and for that the Texans dipped into the free-agent waters and came away with former Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary, who signed a one-year deal in March. Plus, in a lower profile move, RB Mike Boone, most recently of the Denver Broncos, inked a two-year contract. That affords the running back room more depth than it’s had in years.

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The hirings of head coach DeMeco Ryans and offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, both of whom worked under head coach Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers, certainly means a stronger commitment to the run is on the way. With that in mind, here’s an early look at Houston’s backfield contingent.

Fantasy Football Market Report: Week 5

The most important risers and fallers in fantasy football.

One of the aspects of fantasy football that never fails to amaze me is when fantasy owners don’t take into account bye weeks. Week 5 will be the last time in a long time that every player on most rosters will be available.

Injuries do their part to gut fantasy rosters, so players who had no draft-day intention of being in the starting lineup are there more weeks than not. Bye weeks are a meaningless gutting – those guys are healthy, just not playing.

There will be eight weeks in which at least two and as many as six teams will be on bye. If you’re a seasoned fantasy player, you probably paid attention to the bye weeks as you were assembling a draft/auction roster, but a lot has happened since then.

A week from now it will dawn on some casual players that the bye weeks have started. You can be ahead of that curve and prepare for it now. If you see a week that will be rough, make a trade to diversify your roster. There will be someone in your league who effectively forfeits a week because too many key players are on their bye. Don’t let that be you.

Here is the Week 5 Fantasy Football Market Report:

Fantasy Football: 7 running backs for last-second drafters to target

These running backs aren’t getting the love they deserve in fantasy football drafts.

Fantasy football managers love sleepers, players who end up outperforming their average draft position (ADP) and return great value during the season.

With limited workhorse running backs in the NFL, it can be especially important to land value picks at RB, a position that gets thin quickly after the early rounds of the draft.

Here’s a quick look at seven sleeper running backs who could provide great depth to your roster and potentially become starter-worthy RBs at some point during the season.

Fantasy Football: 7 must-have players in 2022

These players should be targets in all of your fantasy football drafts this year.

Because there’s so much talent at the top of fantasy football draft boards, I don’t sweat about my first-round pick.

Even if I’m at the bottom of the round and all of the workhorse running backs have been picked, I know there’s going to be a star wide receiver still available (don’t sleep on Stefon Diggs behind Justin Jefferson and Ja’Marr Chase).

After the first round or two, I do begin to game plan specific picks who could represent fantastic value during the season.

Here’s a quick look at seven players I try to target in every fantasy football draft leading up to the 2022 NFL season for you last-minute types.

Fantasy Football: 5 breakout running backs for 2022 season

These running backs could become fantasy football stars this season.

Following roster cuts and waiver claims, NFL backfields have been sorted out and fantasy football managers are now ready to draft ahead of the season opener next week.

When drafting your team, keep an eye on these five running backs — they all have potential for big breakout seasons in 2022.

Will Dameon Pierce take the fantasy football world by storm?

Pierce has the chops to become the top fantasy rookie running back.

A year ago, there was nobody worse at running the football than the Houston Texans. They finished last in the NFL in rushing yards (83.6 per game), yards per carry (3.4), and rushing touchdowns (eight). Their leading rusher was journeyman running back Rex Burkhead, who at age 31 paced the club with 427 yards on 122 carries — both were career highs for a back who was in his ninth season.

It’s no surprise Houston chose to overhaul its running back room, bidding farewell to pretty much everyone that ran the ball for them in 2021 not named Burkhead, and then adding Marlon Mack via free agency and spending a fourth-round pick on Dameon Pierce. While coming into the preseason it seemed like Mack and Pierce would split the duties, the rookie has had a strong camp, which included a five-carry, 49-yard effort in the preseason opener.

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That performance led to head coach Lovie Smith resting Pierce in the second preseason tilt and saying that he’d seen what he needed to see from the rookie. While Smith has yet to officially name Pierce the starter, the fact that he’s already watching his touches suggests a substantial role. Update: He returned for a final tune-up in the team’s preseason finale and looked the part once again.

A slight uncertainty is how much work Pierce could see in the passing game. He’s not a terrible catcher by any measure, but his pass protection is arguably the weakest area of the rookie’s game.

As it happens, a knock on Pierce coming out of Florida was his background as a complementary back, having never functioned in a true No. 1 role during his time with the Gators. There are two ways to view that, both of which are viable: 1) Pierce is unproven in a featured role, and it’s unknown if he can handle the rigors of heavy use, and 2) the rookie has limited mileage on his odometer and should be fresh, which is something that’s rare for running backs ticketed for the highest level.

One thing that should work in his favor is the lack of talent around him. We already touched on Burkhead, a tangential piece throughout his career, but Mack, the expected RB2, has only carried the ball 32 times in the past two seasons after suffering a torn Achilles in the season opener in 2020. He’s on a one-year, prove-it deal, so nobody is quite sure what he has left. Royce Freeman could also push for a spot, but he hasn’t done much more than Mack over the last two years.

Fantasy football outlook

Although there are some drawbacks with Pierce, most notably his lack of a track record as a lead back, there is currently a lot more to like. He’s been the best back in Texans camp, his backups don’t look like real threats, and he’d be teaming with a young quarterback and a veteran coach, which is a classic recipe for leaning on the ground game. At this point, Pierce has moved up into that midrange RB3 area, and there’s still some upside beyond that designation.

The 6 best late-round rookie running backs in fantasy football

Unheralded rookie running backs who could make an impact.

Running backs often are the lifeblood of fantasy football championship rosters, and it behooves gamers to dig deeper than the next person when searching for an edge.

It’s a weak year for top-end rookie backs, highlighted by the New York Jets’ Breece Hall. Particularly this year, fantasy owners are likely to find value in the second half of drafts. The position is volatile and rife with injuries by year’s end. While knowing the top names is a must, seeing less obvious paths to playing time is arguably more important.

Aside from Hall, Seattle’s Kenneth Walker III (Round 8 ADP) and Buffalo’s James Cook (Round 9) typically round out the first rookie backs chosen. Each has merit in some regards. Walker probably has a more linear avenue to serious playing time, whereas Cook’s role is less clear — he currently profiles as a third-down back and even a slot option. Walker, conversely, offers little as a receiver but is built to handle a larger workload than Cook.

Fantasy football outlook: Houston Texans running backs

What fantasy value can be pulled from from Houston’s RB corps?

With the top of the depth chart populated by names that were well past their sell-by date and a rookie quarterback learning on the job, it’s easy to understand why the Houston Texans finished dead last in the NFL in rushing yards (83.6 per game), rushing touchdowns (eight), and yards per carry (3.4) last year. That led to a complete overhaul as, of the team’s top five rushers, only running back Rex Burkhead, who paced the team with 427 yards on 122 carries, returns.

Also gone is much of the coaching staff with David Culley replaced as head coach by Lovie Smith, and Tim Kelly giving way to Pep Hamilton as offensive coordinator. Hamilton served as the passing game coordinator last year but has OC experience from his time with the Indianapolis Colts.

With young quarterback Davis Mills the starter, Smith and Hamilton would love to put together a quality ground attack to take some pressure off their second-year signal caller. The question is whether they have the horses to do it.

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2022 NFL Draft Scouting Report: RB Dameon Pierce, Florida

Will this unheralded back earn a fantasy-relevant role?

It will be interesting to see just how early in the 2022 NFL Draft we see Florida Gators running back Dameon Pierce come off the board. He was seldom used in his four collegiate seasons but showed a high level of productivity through limited touches. Efficiency is the name of his well-rounded game.

A compact build with enough athleticism to make defenders miss in traffic and soft enough hands to threaten out of the backfield should endear Pierce to a team somewhere early on Day 3, but he has a chance to sneak into the late third round.

Height: 5-foot-9 5/8
Weight: 218 pounds
40 time: 4.59 seconds

Pierce was a decorated, four-year starter coming out of high school in Georgia prior to attending Florida. He was utilized in all 13 contests as a true freshman but failed to separate himself as a sophomore.

In 2020, Pierce’s utilization more than doubled. He wound up accounting for 16 total scores last season with the Gators. The scoring prowess alone will give him a legitimate chance at carving out a role in the NFL if he cannot win a starting gig down the line.

Table: Dameon Pierce NCAA stats (2018-21)

Year School Class Gm Rushing Receiving
Att Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg TD
*2018 Florida FR 11 69 424 6.1 2 5 20 4.0 1
*2019 Florida SO 12 54 305 5.6 4 4 30 7.5 0
*2020 Florida JR 12 106 503 4.7 4 17 156 9.2 1
*2021 Florida SR 13 100 574 5.7 13 19 216 11.4 3

 *includes postseason/bowl games

Pros

  • Agility and vision in tight quarters make for a tough tackle
  • Not afraid of lowering his should to initiate contact, and legs keep moving to the play’s end
  • Barely utilized — low mileage could lengthen career
  • Better receiver out of the backfield than the stats suggest, which includes an uptick in aerial production over the past two seasons
  • Well-built physique with balance and adequate burst through arm tackles
  • Developed into a touchdown machine as a senior — highly efficient overall on a per-touch basis in his career but especially so in 2021
  • Plays with suddenness and unpredictability — jump-cuts, stop-and-go acceleration, and chaotic movements make him difficult to size up in the open field
  • Read-and-react decision-making that cannot be taught
  • Versatility in terms of system and scheme fits as well as roles — could be utilized in zone- or power-blocking, in a pro-style or spread system, and even on third downs
  • Quality pass protector with good anchor and balance traits
  • No fumbles in 2020 or ’21 as role increased (two fumbles prior)
  • Team-first, positive attitude

Also see: 2022 NFL Draft Central

Cons

  • Route tree was limited almost exclusively to the flats and seam routes
  • Energetic rather than athletic — frenetic style is effort-based more so than being naturally a quick-twitch runner
  • Lacks breakaway speed
  • While not a true negative, it’s more of an unknown how he will hold up to a larger workload
  • Despite above-average vision and agility, he doesn’t display a whole lot of creativity

Fantasy football outlook

The closest physical comparison using combine data from 1987 through 2022 was Frank Gore. Yet, they really couldn’t exhibit different styles as runners. Gore was more of a downfield slasher and wasn’t as erratic as Pierce. There’s a ton of video showing Gore breaking long runs, which just is not in Pierce’s game tape. Now, that’s not to say he cannot be productive in the pros, but he’s in no way going to be mistaken for a future Hall of Famer, like Gore proved to become.

The system won’t matter too much for Pierce’s outlook, but his landing spot is critical, particularly early in his career. The likely Year 1 role is that of a third-stringer or special teams player. If granted the opportunity to see meaningful touches, he should be worth a look in 2022 fantasy.

As for his long-range worth, there’s no reason to be excited for rostering him, but Pierce is poised to have a lengthy career as a backup journeyman with the occasional flash moment.