How much Dameon Pierce hype should we buy? | Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast
In the Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast, Matt Harmon and Scott Pianowski break down the hype around Houston Texans RB Dameon Pierce, and debate where fantasy managers should draft him this season.
Video Transcript
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MATT HARMON: The other running back who's been kind of the talk of the preseason was Dameon Pierce. And he didn't play in the Texans' second preseason game. And according to Aaron Wilson, who's covered this team for a long time, the Texans are looking for someone to step up at running back beyond Dameon Pierce.
Pierce didn't do any reps at walk-through. The team loved what he did last week. When you get an evaluation you want, you don't necessarily have to double down in preseason. So it sounds like Dameon Pierce just got rested because he's the starting running back for the Texans right now. I think the question has to be, from a bottom line fantasy perspective, Scott, 'cause you just said, I don't know how jazzed I want to get about the backfield for the Washington Commanders-- I'm not sure how jazzed I want to get about the RB1 for the Houston Texans. How high is too high for Dameon Pierce in fantasy?
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: Yeah, I think he's gonna be probably in the 28 to 32 range on my next running back board, depending on-- I'll look at it specifically and see. I'm a little bit more of a Texans sympathizer than most, although I know Dalton Del Don has kind of taken the baton as being--
MATT HARMON: Oh, yeah.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: --the number one Houston sympathizer on staff. But I think Davis Mills can play. I think Pep Hamilton's a decent offensive coordinator. And Brandin Cooks was one of those guys who was a really great ADP value maybe six weeks ago, a month ago. That's kind of caught up, and he's starting to go maybe commensurate where he's landed the last few seasons.
So I don't think he's a screaming value anymore. He did make my all-boring team that I put out last week. And I think-- I was happy to see Nico Collins, who did very little in the first game.
MATT HARMON: Oh, yeah.
SCOTT PIANOWSKI: I don't think he had a catch. He had a touchdown in week two. And he's the guy who I would like to draft, although it's tough in a managed league. To get to Nico Collins as a starter can be maybe a leap. He's more interesting in best ball.
I realize that's kind of a crutch to use. But I still think there's talent there. It's a very thin passing tree. So Collins, to me, could easily be like a 900-yard, six- or seven-touchdown guy. And there's a lot of formats where that has value.
I would ideally-- I'm still not ready to draft Pierce as somebody I need to start right away. I'd like him to be my third running back. And if somebody in your room, shiny new toy, has to jump in front of you, and say no, no, I'm gonna take a stand on Pierce; he's my guy, And we know this is all about people identifying who their guys are and putting their flags in the ground and doing their branding and all that.
It's gotten to the point that Pierce may be that person for some people, especially in more sophisticated leagues. I bet in a more casual league, in a more kind of hometown league, you can probably still name your price on Pierce. But in the leagues where people pride themselves on having an eye on the preseason, I think he's just gonna be one of the buzzy guys. It's gonna be, you'll look at a draft board, you're gonna wonder where four or five different guys went. Pierce is one of those guys.
George Pickens is one of those guys. Isiah Pacheco is one of those guys. These have been the buzziest guys of the summer. So, to me, again, somewhere running back 28 to 32, in that range. I'll have all my rankings redone on Monday morning.
By the time you listen to this, you'll have the latest and greatest. I pretty much change them every day. But I do a big wholesale change at the end of a preseason week. So I'm still kind of percolating on that.
This makes Pierce a yellow-light player for me. I don't go into a room saying, I gotta elbow everybody out like I'm Charles Barkley. I have to have Pierce. Again, it's the Houston Texans.
It's a team that has 5 and 12 written all over it. And that might even be optimistic. But I do like Davis Mills, and I do respect Hamilton. And I think they might move the ball enough to maybe give us two or three reliable fantasy players with the idea that Pierce could be one of them.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, I think you nailed my exact feelings on Dameon Pierce right now. And my note on this is, people get so up in arms when they find out that you draft any fantasy team before, like, the last week of the preseason. But this-- the guys we just talked about right now, this is why you want to draft earlier. Because if you were kind of ahead of the curve on Dameon Pierce, you could've got this guy at like running back 68 or something.