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 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 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.