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Houston Texans running backs Dameon Pierce and Rex Burkhead were candidates to be the Texans' RB1 in 2022 throughout the offseason, and although Pierce looked to have a clear leg up, Week 1 has muddied the situation. Fantasy managers usually root for the young rookie to supplant the "boring" and "unexciting" veteran, but that's not always what happens.
Deciphering who will be the lead back will be important moving forward in fantasy football, as it could keep fantasy managers from falling into the trap of starting the wrong guy. However, there have been plenty of cases where backfields are tricky to put a finger on all season long, so that's one direction this could be headed, too.
We'll dive into it all below.
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Is Dameon Pierce or Rex Burkhead the Houston Texans Starting RB?
Based on Week 1, Burkhead has a solid edge as the lead back for Houston. Burkhead handled 14 carries to Pierce's 11, but more importantly, he was targeted eight times, while Pierce only saw one target. In PPR leagues, that is a massive and significant disparity.
The Texans will likely be playing from behind often, so the pass-catching back in this offense could see a ton of work, and rack up a ton of easy receptions for fantasy points. Even if Peirce begins to take more carries, it won't matter too much in the context of a poor running game unless he starts grabbing targets and receptions too.
Dameon Pierce Fantasy Football Outlook
All that said, it's a long season and the rookie back out of Florida could emerge at some point. It's too early to completely panic if you drafted Pierce.
We've seen rookie running backs such as Cam Akers, D'Andre Swift, and Jonathan Taylor fail to command a high opportunity share until later in the year, so it could be coming later for Pierce.
However, the guys mentioned above were second-round picks with much stronger prospect profiles than Pierce (fourth-round pick), so it's not a sure thing.
Which Texans RB Should Fantasy Football Managers Start in Week 2?
For now, Rex Burkhead appears to be a solid flex option in deep PPR leagues, while Dameon Pierce will have to show some fantasy production before he can be trusted in lineups. Fantasy managers may want to consider benching Pearce in Week 2 to see how this shakes out.
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