One of the most enjoyable parts of this job as a non-affiliated evaluator is that moment when you’re watching and grading a group of players at a position, you put on one guy’s tape, and all of a sudden, you’re running plays back three or four times, and using all kinds of interesting NSFW words, because the player is so clearly exceptional.
That most recently happened to me when I was evaluating running backs in the 2022 draft class, and I got my first close look at Florida back Dameon Pierce. You won’t find Pierce’s name atop a lot of running back lists right now, and given his light workload, it’s easy to understand why. What’s hard to understand is why Pierce had that light workload in the first place.
Last season, Pierce carried the ball just 100 times in Dan Mullen’s misbegotten running-back-by-committee offense, scoring 13 rushing touchdowns and gaining 574 yards. He also caught 19 passes for 216 yards and three touchdowns. You’re going to have questions about a guy’s ability to carry a lead back workload at the NFL level with numbers like that.
All we can do is watch the tape, crunch the stats, and go by what they tell us. You hear it said that coaches tell you what they think of players by how they’re deployed, and that’s generally true. But there are also cases in which coaches fail to understand the value of an asset, and in Pierce’s case, I have to put this on Mullen. Last season, Pierce had double-digit carries in just two games — the final two games of Florida’s season, after Mullen was fired. In those two games — against Florida State in the regular-season finale and against UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl — Pierce carried the ball a total of 25 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
One of those carries against Florida State did not count as a touchdown — Pierce bulled his way into the end zone even after his helmet was ripped off, which resulted in a 15-yard penalty for “continuing the action” without said helmet.
Dameon Pierce is a BEAST pic.twitter.com/yfNoyBweq8
— libgator (@lib_gator) November 27, 2021
To this, I say, “Phooey.” Continuing the action? When it comes to a running back, you want a guy who’s just ’bout that action, boss.
Dameon Pierce has proven, when given the opportunity, that he is such a running back. His NFL team should and will most likely give him more opportunities, and with all due respect to Michigan State’s Kenneth Walker III, Iowa State’s Breece Hall, and any other back you might put atop your own personal list, I’m over here stanning 100% for the idea that the best running back in the 2022 class is a hidden gem.
Unfortunately hidden, at that. Why is this so? Let’s go to the tape.
