Tag: Steve Slaton

Texans RB Dameon Pierce would need perfect conditions to set team rookie rushing record

Dameon Pierce is an intriguing rookie for the Houston Texans. What would it take for the fourth-round RB to set a new team rookie rushing record?

The Houston Texans’ selection of Dameon Pierce in Round 4 of the 2022 NFL draft represented a commitment to a younger running back the organization had not shown since 2017.

The last time Houston picked a running back was in 2017 with third-rounder D’Onta Foreman from Texas. Foreman showed promise in his initial 10 games with the Texans, tallying 327 rushing yards, but a torn Achilles effectively derailed his career just as it was getting started.

Foreman was on pace for 523.2 rushing yards. It may not have set the Texans’ rookie rushing record, but would have been good enough for sixth place, passing Wali Lundy’s 476 from 2006.

The expectation with Pierce is he is the heir apparent to the Texans’ feature back role. What has yet to be determined is when he will take over for Rex Burkhead and Marlon Mack.

The Texans’ rookie rushing record is 1,282 set by Steve Slaton in 2008. The third-rounder from West Virginia played all 16 games, and averaged 4.8 yards per carry.

Like Slaton, Pierce will have the benefit of playing in a run-heavy offense as offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton wants to establish the run. Pierce will get his chances.

Pierce must first win the starting job — either in camp or shortly after the start of the regular season. The only game Slaton did not start was Week 1, a 38-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Coach Gary Kubiak went with Slaton in Week 2, and the run game never looked back.

Games with 100 rushing yards or more are important, but so are games above 70 yards. Slaton had four games with 100-plus rushing yards, and he also had four more games of at least 70 rushing yards. Pierce will have the benefit of an additional game to help reach that threshold.

If the Texans get a full slate of games from second-year quarterback Davis Mills, that will also give Pierce another advantage Slaton lacked. Although Matt Schaub was the franchise quarterback, the Texans had to rely on Sage Rosenfels for five games. Slaton reached the century mark just twice when Rosenfels started.

The rookie record isn’t impossible for Pierce to achieve, but it will take a certain set of conditions for the former Florida running back to etch his name in team history.

5 Oklahoma Sooners make ESPN’s list of the top 100 Running Backs of the last 60 years

5 Oklahoma Sooners running backs were featured inside ESPN’s top 100 running backs of the last 60 years with Adrian Peterson coming in at 46(?).

Lists are fun. They can be quite the undertaking, especially when you want to try and rank 100 of anything. Especially something as subjective as the top 100 running backs of all time or of a certain time period. But that’s what Bill Connelly of ESPN attempted.

Over at ESPN, Connelly selected the top 100 running backs of the last 60 years (ESPN+). It’s not a perfect list by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a strong attempt.

In particular, Connelly has four Wisconsin Badgers in his top 20. Not providing much context that Wisconsin has generally had elite offensive line play and has been a run-first team for, basically forever.

No. 1 on the list was Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders. The only running back to have played in the last 20 years to make the top 10 was USC’s Reggie Bush. Yes, Adrian Peterson was left out of the top 10. Worse yet, he was left out of the top 20. But more on that later.

Oklahoma had five Sooners featured on the list and there’s a decent argument that several more could have been included.

ESPN names Steve Slaton the Texans’ top one-hit wonder

ESPN released their list of top one-hit wonders for all 32 teams, and RB Steve Slaton was the Houston Texans’ selection.

There are players who enter the NFL that give their respective clubs hope that they have locked down the position for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, those players turn out to be one-season solutions that still leave the organization in a bind.

ESPN compiled their list of all 32 teams’ “one-hit wonders,” and Sarah Barshop, who covers the Texans for the four-letter network, pegged former 2008 third-round pick Steve Slaton as the franchise’s top one-hit wonder.

What happened: Slaton, a third-round pick in 2008, was quickly named the starting running back for Houston as a rookie. He started 15 games and finished the season with 10 total touchdowns and 1,282 rushing yards, which ranked sixth in the league. Slaton’s best performance came against the Colts, when he ran for 156 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.

For Slaton, the turnover bug bit him hard as he coughed up the ball four times through the first five games of his sophomore campaign. Ultimately, coach Gary Kubiak benched Slaton in favor of Ryan Moats. In 2011, the Texans cut Slaton after three games to start the season, and he ended the year played another three for the Miami Dolphins.

Slaton landed at No. 45 on the Texans Wire’s list of 100 greatest Texans.