The Houston Texans may have had one of the worst rosters last season, as evidenced by their 3-13-1 finish, but they did not have one of the worst rookie classes.
According to Chris Trapasso from CBS Sports, the Texans were actually No. 7 in his ranking of all 32 NFL draft classes from the 2022 campaign. Leading the way for Houston were cornerback Derek Stingley (Round 1), safety Jalen Pitre (Round 2), linebacker Christian Harris (Round 3), and running back Dameon Pierce (Round 4).
Before his injury, Pierce was in the Offensive Rookie of the Year race, and the two defensive backs were playmakers, although Stingley didn’t reach his full potential, likely because he played far more zone than he was accustomed to from his time at LSU. Harris missed tackles at an alarming rate but was a super-active three-down linebacker.
Then-offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton told reporters on Nov. 10 that Pierce had already demonstrated that he could thrive at the pro level.
“I think there’s no question that he can play with the ball, and he’s improved with playing without the ball,” said Hamilton. “I don’t know that he has many limitations. I guess the one thing that you can’t teach and coach is experience and the more he plays we’ll continue to see improvements.”
Pierce finished the season with 220 carries for 939 yards and four touchdowns through 13 games, all of which he started. What is also fascinating about Pierce’s total is he was held to 16 total yards from Weeks 11-12 as the Texans offense sputtered with quarterbacks Davis Mills and Kyle Allen.
Pitre led the Texans with 147 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, a quarterback hit, 1.0 sack, a fumble recovery, eight pass breakups, and five interceptions through 17 starts.
Stingley showed promise through an abbreviated nine games, picking off a pass and collecting 43 combined tackles along with 1.0 sack.
Despite playing in 12 games, Harris finished fifth on the team with 74 combined tackles, six tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, 1.0 sack, a forced fumble, five pass breakups, and an interception.
