Dameon Pierce Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

The Texans’ backfield remained a split committee in Week 8 vs. the Panthers. RB Dameon Pierce saw 12 carries with a team-leading 46 rushing yards on Sunday, while teammate Devin Singletary received 10 carries and went 2/2 on his targets for a combined 43 total yards. We’ll have more to dissect once the snap counts from this game become available. For now, it seems managers who took a speculative flier on Singletary off the waiver wire have stumbled into a deep-league flex/bye week filler. It’s reasonable to anticipate Pierce and Singletary will see a 50/50 share again in Week 9 vs. the Buccaneers.

For the fourth time this season, Texans RB Dameon Pierce failed to exceed 40 rushing yards. The second-year back tallied 13 carries for 34 yards in Week 6 vs. the Saints and saw no involvement as a pass-catcher. His teammate Devin Singletary logged a team-high 58 rushing yards and added 1 catch on 2 targets on Sunday. The Texans are set to go on their bye week next weekend, but Pierce shouldn’t be thought of as much more than a flex option until further notice.

Texans RB Dameon Pierce totaled 82 scoreless yards in Sunday's loss to the Falcons. More importantly, he dominated backfield work. Pierce handled all 20 RB carries and got one of two RB targets. He now has just 12 targets through five games. But Pierce is up to 84 carries, including 44 over the last two weeks. RB Devin Singletary has just seven carries over the last two games. Houston's offense struggled for most of the game in Atlanta, but this remains an ascending unit that just got starting OTs Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard back. With Pierce looking like a borderline workhorse, he's a nice trade target heading into Week 6.

Texans RB Dameon Pierce gained 81 yards on 24 attempts in Week 4. Houston gained an early lead on Pittsburgh and never looked back, which helped Pierce see his biggest workload since Week 9 of 2022. He encountered bad luck when a five-yard TD was overturned by penalty, but this outing was still encouraging. Backup RB Devin Singletary mixed in for only 7 carries, while C.J. Stroud continued to impress. Pierce should remain busy for a Week 5 date at Atlanta.

Texans RB Dameon Pierce found paydirt in Week 3 vs. the Jaguars with 14 carries for 31 yards and 1 rushing TD. The second-year back ceded a concerning amount of work to teammate Devin Singletary (9 carries, 41 yards), however. The big thing Pierce had going for him entering the contest was his 61.5% workshare of the Texans' RB touch opportunities. The narrowing of that split between himself and Singletary should raise an eyebrow ahead of their next matchup vs. the Steelers in Week 4.

Texans RB Dameon Pierce had another disappointing outing in Week 2, racking up 35 total yards on a combined 18 touch opportunities vs. the Colts. The second-year back is still by far and away the Houston backfield leader, though. Teammate Devin Singletary only saw 5 touches, and fellow RB Dare Ogunbowale’s pair of carries didn’t make much of a dent. Fantasy managers should be encouraged by the volume that Pierce sees weekly, though tempering expectations from here on out will be vital. Week 3 vs. the Jaguars will provide Pierce another opportunity to improve.

Texans QB C.J. Stroud (shoulder) is expected to play vs. the Colts today, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Stroud was added to the injury report and limited in practice on Friday with a sore right shoulder. He's no better than a low-end QB2 in Week 2 fantasy lineups, but his availability is good news for Houston's offense.

Texans OC Bobby Slowik said he should have given RB Dameon Pierce more work in Week 1. The second-year man tallied only 11 carries in a blowout loss. “DP should touch the ball more than he did,” Slowik said. “That's definitely something we want to do. That's our starting identity. We're here to run the ball.” Houston should be able to stick with the run on Sunday as they head home to face Indianapolis. Pierce projects as a top-24 option in our Week 2 RB rankings.

Texans beat writer Jonathan M. Alexander believes the ground game will be the “focal point” of new OC Bobby Slowik’s offense. RB Damien Pierce leads the attack after an eye-opening rookie campaign. “For us to be a good offense, we have to have Dameon at his A-game,” Texans HC DeMeco Ryans said. “Dameon has been having a great offseason from OTAs to even now. He looks great and in shape. Every time he touches the ball, you see the speed and physicality.” Now, Pierce has his eyes set on hitting 1,000 rushing yards. “I definitely want to cap 1,000 (yards rushing),” Pierce said. “Slowik expects that, everybody around me expects that and I’m going to try everything in my power to get that.” The 23-year-old hits our fantasy RB rankings as a top-24 option.

Texans RB Dameon Pierce became a workhorse as a 2022 rookie, taking 74.3% of the team's rushing attempts over his 13 games. For the year, he ranked 10th among all RBs in opportunity share (carries plus targets). Pierce's rushing-efficiency stats provided mixed messages. He tied for 12th in yards after contact per attempt and ranked second in elusive rating, according to Pro Football Focus. But Pierce finished just 37th in Football Outsiders' rushing DYAR and DVOA, among 42 qualifying RBs. He also sat 19th or lower in points per game across fantasy formats. A weak O-line and poor passing offense certainly didn't help. We're betting on more efficiency from Pierce in Year 2. But you should also expect the team to lighten his workload after importing RB Devin Singletary. See where both players sit in our 2023 RB rankings.

The Texans have been “impressed” with RB Devin Singletary this offseason, per insider Aaron Wilson. The former Buffalo Bill signed a 1-year deal (with $2.5 million guaranteed) in March. “Devin has done a good job,” HC DeMeco Ryans said. “Devin has put himself in a really good spot – love the attention to detail, how he prepares each and every day, so I’m excited where Devin is.” Singletary ultimately projects as a complementary piece behind Dameon Pierce. Given Houston’s new coaching staff, though, we’ll keep a close eye on first-team reps at training camp. See where both guys landed in our updated RB rankings.

Texans RB Dameon Pierce has improved his pass protection ability this offseason, according to RBs coach Danny Barrett. "He can now see the big picture and can identify things quicker to get to his pickups," Barrett said. "That's going to help us out tremendously. When he is in the game, teams think we are going to just run the football. But his ability to pass protect, he understands what is needed in our passing game from him." QB C.J. Stroud has also been impressed by Pierce's pass pro skills, Sports Illustrated's Coty M. Davis writes. As a rookie last year, Pierce ranked 73rd among 81 qualifiers in Pro Football Focus' pass-blocking grades, allowing a pressure on 21.3% of opportunities. That was part of the reason he averaged a just-ok 3.0 targets and 2.3 catches per game. It sounds like Pierce is a candidate to take on a bigger role in the passing game this year, although he'll need to fend off free-agent addition Devin Singletary. We'll be keeping a close eye on Houston's backfield all summer.

The Texans and RB Devin Singletary have agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth up to a reported $3.75 million. The former Bill will immediately walk into a backfield previously devoid of depth behind the incumbent RB Dameon Pierce. From a fantasy perspective, the biggest fallout here is how Singletary's mere presence alone cuts into Pierce's value. In fairness, the Texans adding depth RBs behind Pierce was almost inevitable. This issue was a glaring team need that the Texans had to address this off-season. Even so, Singletary has exceeded 200+ touches in each of the last two seasons and logged three-consecutive years of 50+ targets as a pass-catcher. He's not elite, though he isn't some nobody name either. This spells bad news for Pierce, a player who finished 2022 as the RB27 in PPR scoring on the heels of 250 touches through 13 games prior to a season-ending ankle injury. Simply put, Pierce's effectiveness as a fantasy asset was heavily tied to his high volume, and now, that's not looking likely to work in his favor in 2023. Assuming the Texans don't add anyone else into the fold, a potential backfield split on a lower-tier NFL offense likely means both Pierce and Singletary will cannibalize each other into RB3/flex range at best. That said, it's still too early, and unfair, to believe this will be a 50-50 split. Keep an eye on the NFL Draft next month in case the Texans make this busy RB room even busier.

The Texans are expected to hire Bobby Slowik as their new OC, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Slowik will become the latest Kyle Shanahan disciple to take over an offense. The 35-year-old has spent the past 6 seasons under Shanahan in San Francisco, actually starting out as a defensive quality control coach before moving to the offensive side of the ball in 2019. He served as an offensive assistant for 2 seasons before being promoted to passing game specialist in 2021 and then passing game coordinator last year. Slowik also worked under HC Mike Shanahan in Washington from 2011 to 2013 and spent a few years in between NFL jobs as an analyst at Pro Football Focus. It appears to be a forward-thinking hire by the Texans, although Slowik doesn't have experience calling plays at any level. The Texans are fully expected to take a QB with the 2nd overall pick of this spring's draft.

The Texans placed RB Dameon Pierce on IR with his ankle injury, ending his 2022 season. Pierce had an impressive rookie season, running for 939 yards on 4.3 yards per carry in a bad Houston offense. He currently ranks 8th in Pro Football Focus rushing grade and 3rd in Elusive Rating among 39 RBs with 100+ carries. It's enough to make Pierce the favorite to lead this backfield in 2023, but we'll see what the Texans do at the position this offseason. The Texans promoted RB Royce Freeman from the practice squad on Saturday. He joins Rex Burkhead and Dare Ogunbowale in the backfield for Sunday's game vs. the Chiefs.

Texans RB Dameon Pierce (ankle) is out for Sunday’s game vs. the Chiefs. RBs Dare Ogunbowale and Rex Burkhead are on the active roster, with RBs Royce Freeman and Gerrid Doaks on the practice squad. We’ll see if Houston makes an elevation on Saturday, but you should try to avoid this backfield in fantasy lineups.