After a great rookie season in which he ran for 939 yards in 13 games, Houston Texans running back Dameon Pierce has followed that up with a fairly lackluster second season. Through six games, he's sitting at 281 yards, with his rushing yards per game dropping from 72.2 last season to 46.8 this year.
Do his struggles mean that it's time for fantasy managers to move on from Pierce? Or could there be a bounceback on the horizon for the second-year running back?
Should fantasy managers drop Dameon Pierce this week? Read on for the fantasy football drop analysis of the Texans tight end.
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Can Dameon Pierce Be A Reliable Fantasy Option?
This week against the New Orleans Saints, Dameon Pierce had 13 carries for 34 yards. It was the fourth time through Houston's first six games that Pierce has finished with fewer than 40 rushing yards.
To put that into perspective, it's the same number of sub-40-yard games he had in 13 games last year. But of those four games, three came in the first three weeks of the season. Pierce had been steadily improving before this week's struggles against the Saints.
The larger concern here is that Pierce played just 33% of Houston's snaps this week, a season-low. If that's a trend that continues, he loses a lot of his fantasy upside. But does he lose enough of it to be cut off fantasy rosters?
Can I Drop Dameon Pierce in Fantasy Football?
Fantasy managers should still be holding onto Dameon Pierce. While he played just 21 snaps this week, he was heavily used the two previous weeks, with 24 carries for 81 yards against Pittsburgh and then 20 carries for 66 yards against Atlanta.
Devin Singletary has played well, but this was the first time all year that he had double-digit carries. While it's clear the Texans want to get Singletary more involved, that doesn't mean Pierce will find himself out of the rotation.
The Texans are on a bye this week, which might have fantasy managers more inclined to drop Dameon Pierce. For now, resist that urge. He's still worthy of a fantasy roster spot, even after he saw his role reduced this past week.
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