HOUSTON – Dameon Pierce runs with rare confidence and determination, punishing defenders with his violent, relentless running style.
The Texans’ rookie running back has produced at a level and style that has thrust himself firmly into the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year conversation. Pierce represents one of the few bright spots on a 1-6-1 squad heading into Sunday’s road game against the New York Giants.
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Although Pierce faces serious competition for the award from Seattle Seahawks rookie running back Kenneth Walker III, Pierce’s strong belief in himself mirrors the authoritative way he runs the football.
“I would say the odds are in my favor, brother,” Pierce said Thursday inside the Texans’ locker room.
Indeed.
Pierce has rushed for 678 yards to rank sixth in the NFL in rushing yards behind the Tennessee Titans’ Derrick Henry (870 yards), the Cleveland Browns’ Nick Chubb (841 yards), the Giants’ Saquon Barkley (779 yards), the Las Vegas Raiders’ Josh Jacobs (743 yards) and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Travis Etienne (680 yards).
A fourth-round draft pick from Florida, Pierce is averaging 4.6 yards per carry and has three touchdown runs to go with 20 receptions for 98 yards and one score. He’s on pace to rush for 1,440 yards, the second-highest in franchise history behind retired Texans Pro Bowl running back Arian Foster’s 1,616 yards in 2010.
Pierce ranks first in the NFL with 26 broken tackles, is tied for second with 40 rushing first downs, third with 50 forced missed tackles, third with 403 rushing yards after contact, third with 50.4 rushing yards per game after contact and fifth with 84.8 rushing yards per game, per the Texans. He ranks first in the NFL in all of those categories among rookies. Walker has rushed for 570 yards and seven touchdowns, averaging 5.1 yards per run.
Walker is ahead of Pierce on the majority of betting lines for the award, ranking ahead of him and New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave.
Pierce acknowledged thinking about and wanting the award, but it’s not his primary focus.
“It would be a great prestigious award to have,” Pierce said. “Every offensive rookie wants the same thing. I got to make sure I keep making my case. If not, I got these guys behind me, as long as they think I should be Offensive Rookie of the Year, it means a lot to have my teammates behind me.”
Pierce and Walker would have faced stiff competition from New York Jets rookie running back Breece Hall if not for the former Iowa State star tearing his anterior cruciate ligament.
“Before Breece got hurt, that was something that gave me a little juice going into the game like ‘Whoo, Breece just snapped, I want to snap.’” Pierce said. “You feel me? They’re probably thinking the same thing when they see me: ‘DP just went crazy. I want to go crazy.’ It’s fun. It’s a competitive business going against great backs like that. It’s unfortunate what happened to Breece, but he’s going to bounce back.”
Pierce definitely put his best foot forward in a loss to the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles. He rushed for a season-high 139 yards on a season-high 27 carries. The Texans intend to keep his workload steady.
In the past four games, Pierce has rushed for 99, 92, 35 and 139 yards on a combined 88 carries. Pierce has also caught 10 passes during that span.
“I think there’s no question that he can play with the ball, and he’s improved with playing without the ball,” offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton said. “I don’t know that he has many limitations. I guess the one thing that you can’t teach and coach is experience, and the more he plays, we’ll continue to see improvements.”
Pierce had an epic, angry run against the Jacksonville Jaguars, dragging and embarrassing defenders as he refused to go down. That run, one of the most memorable and physical of the season, led to a game-winning touchdown in the Texans’ lone victory of the season.
“I don’t know who said something to him or did something to him to make him so angry, but that might be the angriest runner in the league,” Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale told New York reporters. “I’ll give you my comparisons again: Old, old school: Earl Campbell, Jamal Lewis. He’s one of those big power backs that has great balance. Runs mad every time he touches it. Has quick feet. It’s going to be a tough assignment.”
Pierce also flashed his breakaway speed on a 75-yard touchdown run against the Los Angeles Chargers, gaining 131 yards on just 14 carries in an October game at NRG Stadiujm.
“He is hard to stop,” Texans coach Lovie Smith said. “You know, I wouldn’t want to be a defensive back with him having a full head of steam running downhill, keeping his legs moving, moving the pile. What we want to be, a running football team, physical running attack, our tailback kind of says it all in what we would like to be.”
His teammates believe he’s deserving of the award. His blockers are doing everything they can to position him for consideration.
“He runs hard, he finds holes, he makes people miss,” Texans left offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil said. “We know what we expect from DP. We know what we got. We appreciate DP.”
Pierce is the fourth player since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to have two 130 rushing yard games in their first eight games drafted in the fourth round or later, joining Don Woods, Elijah Mitchell and Mike Anderson.
“That’s what we expect every time he’s out there,” offensive guard A.J Cann said. “DP has that pop. That’s what we expect every time he touches the rock.”
Signed to a four-year, $4.5 million rookie contract, Pierce was used sparingly in a platoon system in college under former Gators coach Dan Mullen.
With the Texans, though, Pierce has emerged as the centerpiece of a run-first, smash-mouth offense.
“He’s consistent, he does it every week, and that’s the standard he sets and he reaches that standard every week,” said rookie fullback Troy Hairston, who has done a nice job of leading interference for Pierce with several crushing isolation blocks. “At this point, it’s not a surprise the way he runs the ball. He’s going to find yards.”
Aaron Wilson is a contributor to KPRC 2 and click2houston.com