Lovie Smith, Nick Caserio address why Texans decided to draft Florida product Dameon Pierce

Houston Texans’ fourth-round draft pick Dameon Pierce earned a reputation during his time at Florida for exploiting lanes in the defense and scoring touchdowns, and Texans head coach Lovie Smith expects more of the same to happen as Pierce begins his NFL career in Houston.

“We drafted Dameon in mind with having a guy that can get yards in between the tackles,” Smith said. “He is a tough football player, confident football player. We feel like we have a role for him.”

Pierce was PFF’s highest graded running back in 2021 with a 92.0 overall mark while leading all backs with a 93.5 rushing grade. In his first two years with Florida, he played in 25 games as a backup, rushing for 729 yards and six touchdowns. Pierce earned the starting spot for the Gators in 2020 and led the team in rushing with 503 yards and four touchdowns. In 2021, he only started one game, but led the team in rushing touchdowns with 13 on the ground. He also scored another three touchdowns receiving last season.

The Texans currently have six other running backs on their roster, including the team’s leading rusher Rex Burkhead, who finished with just 427 yards last season and averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Despite returning Burkhead, Texans general manager Nick Caserio wants Pierce to push for starting minutes as a rookie.

“He plays with a lot of joy. He plays with a lot of fight. He plays with a lot of toughness, and his personality, I would say, transfers over to the football field,” Caserio said of Pierce. “A guy that’s 5’9”, 217 pounds that’s built strong, low to the ground, has good contact balance, good lower body strength, good lateral quickness, maybe lacks a little top-end speed and has decent hands. I would say his mindset and skill set potentially projects to a role in the kicking game. We talked about players trying to create multiple roles for themselves on a roster, so I would say in Dameon’s situation, I think he’ll have an opportunity.”

With the running back position one of the most cut-throat positions in the league, Pierce has to prove his worth to earn his spot on the field each Sunday. Luckily for the former Gator, the front office seems to have the rookie’s back and expect him to be a regular fixture in Houston’s rushing attack over the next few seasons.

“We feel like we have a role for him,” Smith said. “You can’t ever have too many good running backs. I think as you look at our running back position, they all bring something a little bit different, little bit unique to the position.”