As exciting as it was to watch Dameon Pierce bully his way through the line of scrimmage and run through secondaries last season, it just felt empty, like something was missing.
Aside from the Texans consistently misusing Pierce, holding him out of high leverage situations throughout much of the season, there was something much larger at play organizationally.
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Losing.
With a culture shift in full effect after a lot of house cleaning and upgrades throughout the roster during the off-season, Texans running backs coach Danny Barrett is again the lone survivor from a regime change (has coached under Bill O’Brien, David Culley, Lovie Smith and now DeMeco Ryans) and is expecting great things from an improved running back room that includes one of the most talented rookies in the league last year.
“Just looking at the skill set that we have, I’m excited about it,” Barrett said.
Unfortunately for Pierce, his rookie campaign was cut short as an ankle injury landed him on injured reserve in week 14. The seldom used former Florida Gator had compiled 939 yards, four touchdowns and surpassed 90 yards five times through 13 games.
With Pierce’s violent running style, he amassed 703 yards after contact as both a rusher and pass catcher combined. He broke 35 tackles and made 62 others miss, which was fourth among all running backs.
Barrett, who has developed a close relationship with the second-year pro, said he’s already noticed a stark difference in Pierce from year one to now.
“The biggest thing right now is that he’s come back, he’s in great shape,” Barrett said. “This time last year, rookie, don’t know what to expect, he’s happy to get a couple of reps and he’s outta there. Now, he doesn’t want to come off the football field because from a conditioning standpoint he’s ready to go and that makes him fresh mentally.”
One of the areas Pierce showed growth during his rookie campaign was his assignments away from the football, such as blocking and picking up the blitz. Barrett said Pierce has continued to improve and is picking up those things quickly in the new system.
“Understanding a new offense, new schemes, he’s still asking questions, the right questions now pertinent to his assignments and everything, so it’s been good,” Barrett said.
While Pierce figures to be the Texans No. 1 back, they did add some much needed depth to their running back room this off-season, signing former Buffalo Bills running back Devin Singletary.
Singletary, 25, entering his fifth-year in the league, rushed for 819 yards and five touchdowns for the Bills last season. The strong No. 2 option behind Pierce also caught 38 passes for 280 yards, which promotes exactly the kind of balanced production expected from new offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik in this offense.
“Look at what he brings to the table from an experience standpoint, a first and second down back that’s not only a runner but can catch coming out of the backfield and can keep defenses off balance,” Barrett said. “They can’t just load up the box and think we're going to run the ball all the time.”
The Texans also added former Vikings and Broncos running back Mike Boone in free agency and signed undrafted free agent Xazavian Valladay to compete with Dare Ogunbowale and Gerrid Doaks for a third string position and special teams spot.
“Running back is a quarterback's best friend, I know that from experience,” Barrett said.
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Shaun Bijani has spent the last 16 years covering the Houston sports scene for SportsRadio 610. Follow him on Twitter @ShaunBijani.
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