The Houston Texans must have liked what they saw from rookie fourth round draft pick Dameon Pierce, because he appears to be the front-runner to be the team’s RB1 heading into the 2022 NFL season.
On Tuesday, the Texans made the surprising decision to release veteran running back Marlon Mack, making Pierce the starter on their depth chart heading into the season.
The Texans had been planning to go with a running back by committee approach this season. But after seeing Mack run for 90 yards on 21 carries over their preseason action, they saw enough to release the former Indianapolis Colt despite signing him to a one-year deal earlier in the offseason.
So it’ll likely be Pierce — the rookie Florida Gator product — who will handle the bulk of the load for the Texans running game this season.
Given his new status in Houston, let’s take a look at where Pierce stands in fantasy football rankings.
Dameon Pierce Fantasy Football Ranking
Per our Stokastic fantasy football cheat sheet, Pierce was already ranked ahead of Mack, coming in seven spots ahead of the veteran at #46 of all running backs.
But after the Mack cut, many experts are putting Pierce up into the top-20 on fantasy football draft boards, with ESPN putting him up in the #29 slot for a full, PPR league.
During his four-year college career in Florida’s backfield, Pierce had 1,809 yards to go along with 23 touchdowns. He also added 422 yards and five touchdowns as a receiver.
While Texans head coach Lovie Smith wouldn’t name Dameon Pierce as his RB1 on Monday, he had plenty of praise for his rookie weapon.
“I don’t have a mask on how I feel about things,” Smith said. “Dameon Pierce has played good ball pretty much since he got in the facility. He’s a good football player, right amount of power. He’ll make you miss in the open field. He can catch the ball. He can do a lot of things that NFL running backs do.”
Of course, drafting a rookie running back who plays for a lowly team like the Texans will come with some risk. But given the opportunity that arises following the Marlon Mack release, Dameon Pierce could be a top sleeper pick this season.
