There was a point in mid-August, when it was becoming clear that injured running back Joe Mixon wouldn't be returning to the field any time soon where it looked like there was a chance that Dameon Pierce would end up emerging as the featured back in the Houston Texans backfield. All that Pierce needed to do was beat out rookie 4th rounder Woody Marks and perennially injured veteran Nick Chubb to earn the starting spot.
It didn't appear that this was going to be an overly ambitious ask. As a rookie in 2022, Pierce burst onto the scene, rushing for 939 yards and 4 touchdowns in just 13 games.