HOUSTON – A self-described country boy did much more than survive.
Dameon Pierce thrived as an NFL rookie as an instant hit and emerged as the most dangerous weapon on the offense and arguably the top player on the team besides Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil.
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Encouraged by his injury-shortened rookie season, the punishing Pro Bowl alternate running back is making a speedy recovery from a high-ankle sprain. The Georgia native, a one-time NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate, expressed confidence he could have even played this week had the 3-13-1 Texans still been playing and emphasized he’s on schedule for the entire offseason program.
Pierce, placed on injured reserve after getting hurt against the Dallas Cowboys, rushed for 939 yards and four touchdowns and finished with 1,026 yards from scrimmage despite missing the final four games of the season. Now, Pierce is reflecting on his first NFL season and aiming even higher.
Texans rookie running back Dameon Pierce on Lovie Smith dismissal @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/25YzuU72oy
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) January 9, 2023
“Man, I’m dang proud of what I’ve been doing,” Pierce said. “I wish I had those four games, though. I put it on paper. It gave me something to look forward to in the offseason. I got 900, lets get 1,000. It’s motivation. It’s a bummer how it ended. I could have played this week, if we had a game, but we don’t, so ..
“It was an administrative decision to put me on IR so I could get into my offseason program heading into next year. Just making sure I was ready and healthy enough to get a jumpstart on my offseason program, so I’m not off timing-wise when it comes to strength and conditioning, vacation time and all that.”
A candidate for all-rookie honors, the fourth-round draft draft pick from Florida finished second among all rookie running backs in rushing yards behind the Seattle Seahawks’ Kenneth Walker III (1,050 yards). He ranked third all-time for a rookie in rushing yards in franchise history.
“You knew he was a talented football player,” Texans running backs coach Danny Barrett said. You knew he was a physical runner, able to finish runs. But just his ability to keep those legs moving and moving, pounce like that, adapting to the speed of the game, he probably surprised himself somewhat as well. Because of the type of work ethic he has and his attitude every day, it’s infectious.
Do we try to make a move at the second level and just make them miss? I think he has that ability to do that, and I think that’s what you’re going to see more so from him in the future. He won’t be just running over people. He’ll make guys miss in space, sort of like the long touchdown run earlier in the year. He made a guy miss in space. He used his speed to get into the end zone as opposed to running through it. I think he has all the skill sets to be a three-down back in this league.
What did Pierce prove?
“Everything, just from a smaller scale showing everybody from my hometown, they can do it,” the Bainbridge, Ga. native said. “And on a bigger scale that I can be a top 10 running back in this league.”
Pierce (5-foot-10, 218 pounds) displayed speed, power and moves. He delivered an epic, tackle-breaking run against the Jacksonville Jaguars, one of the angriest runs of the season. And Pierce caught 30 passes for 165 yards with one touchdown.
“I feel like I’m going to get that All-Pro rookie team but that Rookie of the Year, that’s politics,” Pierce said. " Everybody (with) Texans say I should get it. Everybody on the other team with a rookie says he should get it. It just comes down to politics at that point. I’m just blessed to be in the conversation alone. It’s shout out to the big boys up front. Everybody taking me under their wings, it takes a village.”
Pierce said that he was disappointed to see Lovie Smith fired. Now, the Texans are in the middle of a coaching search. Whomever they hire will surely utilize Pierce a lot.
“Coach Lovie is a great guy,” Pierce said. “I believe wholeheartedly he poured his heart into this team every day, whether the record showed that or not. I believe that Coach Lovie put the work in every day and had the best interest of us at hand. Coach Lovie is a great guy and I’m going to miss him.”
And Pierce is hoping that the new coach will follow a similar style to Smith.
“As long as he keeps it on that same approach, putting his players first, taking care of his guys but also keeping that bar high to where he expects more out of us, that’s pretty much it,” Pierce said. “Everything else we’re settling on. Good personality, good dude. We don’t want no crazy dude.
“We want somebody that’s cool, calm, collected that fits in with this locker and gonna move Houston in a positive direction and give them the team they deserve. We’ve got fans sticking around since 2002 and we just want to give them something they can be proud of.
Aaron Wilson is a contributor to KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.