Speaker 1: You found Fantasy Football Weekly Micro a deep dive on
Speaker 1: one player in just five to ten minutes. Now, here's
Speaker 1: your host, Paul Georgian. It's Fantasy Football Weekly micro edition
Speaker 1: and maybe my favorite micro edition that we've done todate
Speaker 1: because it's my guy, Damian Pierce. Oh okay, I can't
Speaker 1: wait to dig in deep dive on one of my
Speaker 1: favorite running backs in the league. Joining me today as
Speaker 1: he has for each of the Fantasy Football Weekly micro editions.
Speaker 1: Gullantine Leagues dot com writer Tyler Cannabile.
Speaker 2: Excited to be here, excited to talk about Damian Pierce.
Speaker 2: He is the scepter winner of Kyle Brandt's Angry Run
Speaker 2: of the Year Annual, First Annual, First Annual.
Speaker 3: Yeah, here's him at the NFL Awards.
Speaker 1: Oh I remember the run. My pants are still in
Speaker 1: orbit on that run. That was such a bad ass run.
Speaker 1: I think six broken tackles in one run.
Speaker 3: Very possibly crazy run.
Speaker 1: Oh god, And you know what, it wasn't alone. I mean,
Speaker 1: that was not like some fluke. Damian Pierce just shreds dudes.
Speaker 1: Oh god, I love that guy. But I'll let you
Speaker 1: set the table. You did a You've done a lot
Speaker 1: of research on Damian Pierce. I think you and I
Speaker 1: you probably are not going to share quite my enthusiasm,
Speaker 1: but that's okay.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I still like Damian Pierce.
Speaker 2: He finishes the RB twenty three last year in average
Speaker 2: points per game. Currently going off the board is RB
Speaker 2: twenty one, so that's kind of the same area. First
Speaker 2: the player, he was third in rush attempts per broken
Speaker 2: tackle kind of the same style we use with Dave
Speaker 2: Montgomery a couple episodes ago, and the only guys, the
Speaker 2: only guys that were higher than him were Lamar Jackson
Speaker 2: Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Lamar Jackson's obviously pretty special. That's Henry's head
Speaker 1: of the Great Company to be Oh yes, yeah, that's
Speaker 1: awfully good. Broken tackles is kind of the name of
Speaker 1: Damian Pierce's game. It's the it's the squat frame, it's
Speaker 1: the power, but it's the footwork. What he does so
Speaker 1: brilliantly and guys his size almost never do, is the
Speaker 1: footwork and balance that that allow him to break tackles.
Speaker 1: Because defenders don't get clean shots on him, they get
Speaker 1: glancing shots at him, and Damian Pierce is able to
Speaker 1: break those at all. I love it. It's just the footwork
Speaker 1: does not belong on a player his size, with his build.
Speaker 3: It also doesn't belong on a team that he's on.
Speaker 1: Right now, Well, I'm bullish on this team. I think
Speaker 1: I think Houston is going to be a dramatically better team.
Speaker 1: I love you know, remember they at the end of
Speaker 1: last year they were a good team. They mistakenly won
Speaker 1: that last game, but they were also a good team
Speaker 1: through most of December. And they've got what appears to
Speaker 1: be a much more competent coaching staff, and we'll talk
Speaker 1: a little bit more about that a little later on
Speaker 1: in the show here.
Speaker 2: I mean, I agree with you that this year they
Speaker 2: should be better, at least on paper than they were
Speaker 2: last year, because I mean the beginning weeks one through
Speaker 2: I don't know, twelve or thirteen last year they were
Speaker 2: just horrendous. David Davis Mills or is Kyle Allens You're
Speaker 2: not gonna be so you don't want any parts of
Speaker 2: that offense?
Speaker 3: Yes, yet some games both.
Speaker 1: So so now, oh it's gonna be Stroud or Young?
Speaker 3: Well is it? I've heard reports that they might not
Speaker 3: even take a QB. They don't like.
Speaker 2: I think they only like Bryce Young that's what I've heard.
Speaker 2: They could be doing smokeshre and we don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think that's true.
Speaker 3: You think that they can go quarterback too.
Speaker 1: And then do they have picked twelve?
Speaker 3: It's twelve twelve.
Speaker 1: Uh, and that should be a wide receiver. And we
Speaker 1: like Nico Collins around here. We're part of the Nico
Speaker 1: Collins fan club. But uh, they almost certain Robert they
Speaker 1: signed Robert Wards, don't care. I think they go wide
Speaker 1: receiver there, and now this offense gets a lot more developed.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, somebody else I signed was Devin Singletary, which I
Speaker 2: actually think was a really good signing for Damian Pierce
Speaker 2: because Devin Singletary is like, I'm not worried about him, Like, oh,
Speaker 2: Devin Singletary is in town, He's gonna take all the touches.
Speaker 2: That's just not gonna happen, especially when you're buying Damian pierces.
Speaker 1: And Singletary doesn't catch, and Pierce is a sneaky good
Speaker 1: pass receiver. Last year he caught seventy seven percent of
Speaker 1: the passes thrown his way. I believe it was thirty
Speaker 1: three receptions on the season. Now that's not half bad.
Speaker 1: He's got roomed to grow as a receiver. He was
Speaker 1: underutilized there last year. And at Florida, they would throw
Speaker 1: to Damian Pierce downfield. I mean they'd send him on
Speaker 1: a crossing route and you know they'd hit him eighteen
Speaker 1: yards down field. They can do a lot more with
Speaker 1: Damian Pierce in the passing game. Houston's new offensive coordinator
Speaker 1: is Bobby Slowik. He was in San Francisco with Demico Ryans.
Speaker 1: He was the passing game coordinator. And what we know
Speaker 1: about the forty nine ers is they always put their
Speaker 1: running backs in high output situations constantly. I mean, no
Speaker 1: matter who it is, no matter how far they've gone
Speaker 1: down on the depth chart, no matter who the guy is,
Speaker 1: their running backs produced. And I'm very excited about a
Speaker 1: forty nine ers style offense being married with Damian Pierce.
Speaker 2: Oh, if we get that forty nine ers style offense,
Speaker 2: I'm right there with you, Like, this is the upside
Speaker 2: you have at Damian Pierce.
Speaker 3: Because you know what the player is. You just got
Speaker 3: to hope the situation is gonna be good.
Speaker 2: So if we see that kind of volume and situations
Speaker 2: from our boy Damian Pierce, then I'm all in. But
Speaker 2: The only reservation I have is can we trust the
Speaker 2: mid round drafted running back in the NFL?
Speaker 3: Because we've seen this story before.
Speaker 2: Austin Eckler and Aaron Jones are the only round four
Speaker 2: or later guys that have kept their starting jobs and
Speaker 2: performed at as a top twenty four running back. Over
Speaker 2: like I just kind of did the past like three
Speaker 2: or four years, there are only two guys.
Speaker 1: Eaza Pacheco is going to so we add him we
Speaker 1: asumably we can add him into this into this mix.
Speaker 1: And just because he was miss drafted doesn't mean he's
Speaker 1: a bad player. I mean, I you know, I think
Speaker 1: that people got it wrong. If you're to rehold that
Speaker 1: draft today, Damian Pierce would not be in the fourth
Speaker 1: round and what Pierce would have been a second or
Speaker 1: third round.
Speaker 2: And one of the things to build off of that
Speaker 2: is when I was doing like kind of like looking
Speaker 2: at the rookies last season going into last year's NFL draft,
Speaker 2: Damian Pierce is a name that kept popping up because
Speaker 2: you saw it on the field that Florida. The only
Speaker 2: problem was that Florida coaching staff just wouldn't use him,
Speaker 2: wouldn't use him, and they didn't use Anthony Richardson either
Speaker 2: used the other.
Speaker 3: I don't remember the quarterback before him, but he was Jones.
Speaker 2: Maybe don't quote me on that, but it's Florida kind
Speaker 2: of ruined I think his draft stocks. So I think
Speaker 2: he sure if they used him right, he would have
Speaker 2: gone as the top whatever guy. I just we've seen
Speaker 2: this in the past where they looked like the starter
Speaker 2: and then they weren't. Just some names that they're out
Speaker 2: there Michael Carter last year, Elijah Mitchell, James Robinson especially
Speaker 2: was the one guy we were like, oh, he was
Speaker 2: a seventh round pick and now he's sure.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he tore his achilles.
Speaker 1: I mean it's, you know, a devastating injury for a
Speaker 1: running back.
Speaker 3: But they drafted etn before they before he tore.
Speaker 2: His achilles, that's true. Yeah, So that was the whole
Speaker 2: thing is they replaced him right after he finished. I think
Speaker 2: he was like the RBS five or six that year,
Speaker 2: I don't remember exactly. And then another name is Alfred Morris,
Speaker 2: not recently, but another guy who six round picked, crazy
Speaker 2: rookie season and then never heard from again.
Speaker 1: So Damian Pierce finishes as RB twenty three in a
Speaker 1: season in which he had four rushing touchdowns four and
Speaker 1: he still finished his RB twenty three. His style, I mean,
Speaker 1: Damian Pierce is a goal line Devin Singletary is not
Speaker 1: a goal line back. Damian Pierce is going to get
Speaker 1: all the carries inside the five. Damian Pierce could turn
Speaker 1: those four rushing touchdowns into twelve rushing touchdowns. He chipped
Speaker 1: in one through the air last year. That could turn
Speaker 1: into two or three this year with this new offense.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not inconceivable that Damian Pierce hits twelve
Speaker 1: fourteen touchdowns this season in a vastly improved Houston offense
Speaker 1: based on his skill set and presumed improvement around him
Speaker 1: and the work that he should get at the goal line.
Speaker 1: I just can't believe that. I can't believe that a
Speaker 1: player's good as him is going to somehow get held
Speaker 1: to four rushing touchdowns again. And I see way way
Speaker 1: more upside this year than hit the production he had
Speaker 1: last year.
Speaker 2: I agree, the upside is much higher. Like I said,
Speaker 2: I love the player. I absolutely love Damian Pierce as
Speaker 2: a player. I just I don't trust that he's going
Speaker 2: to be the only guy there. Kind of the same
Speaker 2: thing we have with Tony Pollard where I'm just weird.
Speaker 2: There's so many If they spend.
Speaker 3: A round two pick on a run, would you be
Speaker 3: a little worried then yes, yeah.
Speaker 1: And I don't know why they would do that. Your
Speaker 1: team with Houston needs, has all the needs they've got,
Speaker 1: and you've got Damian Pierson roster. I would I would
Speaker 1: have a lot of questions.
Speaker 2: I hope it doesn't matter that Damian Pierce wasn't this
Speaker 2: new coaching styles pick. I know that's always that always
Speaker 2: gets talked about, Oh it's not their guy that didn't
Speaker 2: draft him. I think it gets over played a little
Speaker 2: too much, but I do think it's worth mentioning.
Speaker 1: At least if they take a running back up, we'll
Speaker 1: talk about that. Yes, yeah, I don't believe they will.
Speaker 1: I hope they don't. I'd be I don't know how
Speaker 1: you could watch the tape of that offense and not
Speaker 1: come to the conclusion that your best offensive player is
Speaker 1: Damian Pierce. So you know, I'd be surprised. But I
Speaker 1: have seen people mocking running back to Houston, and I'm like,
Speaker 1: did you guys not watch any Texans games?
Speaker 2: Yeah, if Sharbona ends up in Houston, that would be
Speaker 2: worst case scenario, that'd be a disaster.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, because he's a super cool player. We
Speaker 1: just broke him down on Friday's Fantasy Football Weekly, really
Speaker 1: really interested in what he's going to be able to do.
Speaker 1: All Right, So you and I disagree a little bit
Speaker 1: on Damian p but we both like him. I like
Speaker 1: him a lot. So let's, uh, let's talk about some
Speaker 1: of the other players going around that ADP of RB
Speaker 1: twenty one.
Speaker 2: All right, David Montgomery RB nineteen, and we were pretty
Speaker 2: high on d the last guy.
Speaker 3: I liked him.
Speaker 1: I liked Montgomery's opportunity, but I like this one more
Speaker 1: because there's less competition. I feel like and I trust
Speaker 1: the touchdowns. But I said that about Montgomery too. I
Speaker 1: trust his touchdowns too. I'm gonna go Montgomery.
Speaker 3: Okay, I'm gonna go Mctgomery. He's going to higher than him.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm gonna Gogery close.
Speaker 3: JK.
Speaker 2: Dobbins RB twenty Oh man, another high volume guy, you know,
Speaker 2: which probably should be a runnof.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take Pierce just because he hasn't had an
Speaker 1: ACL in the recent past.
Speaker 3: Isaiah Pacheco RB twenty two.
Speaker 1: See, I think I think Kansas City is a sneaky
Speaker 1: team to take a h take a running back in
Speaker 1: this draft, So I'm not gonna go Pacheco. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go with the Damian Pierce here.
Speaker 2: I'm with Pierce on this one too, just because we
Speaker 2: saw Damian Pierces be a better player than Pachecko was.
Speaker 2: Plus Pacheco's yes, ninear the pass catcher that Damian Pierce correct?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Correct? All right? DeAndre Swift RB twenty.
Speaker 1: Three, Well, we think Montgomery's gonna get almost all of
Speaker 1: the touchdowns. And yeah, I'm pretty much out on Swift,
Speaker 1: so not close.
Speaker 2: Pierce, all right, I'm pretty sure I know where you're
Speaker 2: going this one. But cam Akers RB twenty four.
Speaker 1: Look at you know, I'll acknowledge camp Maker's had a
Speaker 1: had a really nice December and he looked good. But
Speaker 1: I'm playing it safe here and I'm not gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna take Damian Pierce, who I know is really good.
Speaker 2: Let's do one more just because I thought of it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Najie Harris, pretty sure he's growing as RB seventeen right now.
Speaker 1: I think i'd rather have Pierce. I feel pretty burned
Speaker 1: on Naji Harris. Yeah, you know you and I broke
Speaker 1: his game down a couple of weeks ago, and it
Speaker 1: just even with the even given opportunities, he didn't do
Speaker 1: much with him. So yeah, I'm pretty much out on Harris.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know Damian Pierce.
Speaker 2: I'm in on Pierce, but I'm, like I said, I
Speaker 2: love the player. I'm going to take a shot on
Speaker 2: this range of guys because we don't really there's no
Speaker 2: definitive guy really even like really like in this range
Speaker 2: of players, the Montgomery Dobbins checko, like, we don't really
Speaker 2: know what their situation is gonna look like for any
Speaker 2: of them. So I'm definitely down to take a shot
Speaker 2: on Pierce, who I think is He's definitely a better
Speaker 2: running back I think than Cam Akers, than Isaiah Chaco.
Speaker 3: So I'm I'm wanting to take the shot.
Speaker 1: I love I love Damian Pierson Dynasty and Empire leagues,
Speaker 1: because Houston is going to be much better. And you know,
Speaker 1: just the upgraded quarterback right, whether it's Stroud or Young
Speaker 1: or maybe they go weird done as they take Richards
Speaker 1: and whatever, that quarterback position's going to be a lot better.
Speaker 1: And I see Houston doing a little bit of what
Speaker 1: Jacksonville did uh. You know, going from worst to first
Speaker 1: place in the division. I'm not saying they're gonna do that,
Speaker 1: but you know, the trajectory is all heading the right way.
Speaker 1: I'm buying I'm buying low on Houston and that includes
Speaker 1: Dynasty and Empire leagues. I want, I want young, good
Speaker 1: players from that offense.
Speaker 3: Totally fair. I think I'm with you too. I'm with you.
Speaker 3: They're gonna be a lot better.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to today's Fantasy Football Weekly. Gro addition,
Speaker 1: we've got another one coming up tomorrow as we dig into.
Speaker 2: Miles Sanders submitted by somebody on Twitter.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you for the Twitter submissions. If you'd like
Speaker 1: to recommend a player for us to break down at
Speaker 1: Paul Charchi and on Twitter and at Tyler Cannabilee, k
Speaker 1: N A E B L E. Talk to you tomorrow, everybody,