Prospect Bio

Dameon Pierce was a mega-producer at Bainbridge High School in Georgia. He finished his career top-10 in the state of Georgia’s all-time rushing leaders with 6,779 yards and 92 rushing touchdowns. He was a highly sought after recruit, garnering offers from schools like Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Michigan State, among others. As a four-star prospect, he ranked No.112 overall and No.8 among running backs in the 2018 class. Pierce originally committed to Alabama but later rescinded and chose Florida. During his true freshman season, Pierce took 69 carries for 424 yards and two touchdowns while playing in all 13 games. He followed that up with 305 yards and four scores on 54 carries as a sophomore. In 2020, Pierce got his chance to lead the running back rotation. He finished the season with a team-high 503 yards and four touchdowns on 106 carries. He added another 156 yards and a score as a pass-catcher while hauling in 17 receptions.

Pierce continued to lead a fierce running back group in 2021, sharing reps with Malik Davis, Nay’quan Wright, Demarkcus Bowman, and Lorenzo Lingard. Pierce led the backs with 574 yards and 13 touchdowns on 100 rush attempts. He also snagged 19 receptions for 216 yards and two scores.

College Stats

Dameon Pierce College Stats Courtesy of sports-reference

Positives

+Size

+Versatile 

+Excellent receiving skills

+Good route runner

+10th in yards per route run (1.8) in 2021 (PFF)

+Pass protection 

+Violent runner

+Tough to tackle; 3rd in missed tackles forced per attempt in 2021 (PFF)

+30.2% touchdown share 

Negatives

-Was never the feature back; Never had more than 106 carries in a season

-Just nine career games with 10 or more carries

-4.59 40-time; Not a home-run threat

-Average burst

-0.87 yards per team play 

-4.6% reception share

Highlight Reel

Comparable Player: DeeJay Dallas

NFL Draft Projection: Fourth Round

Yards Per-Formance Grade: 61.9

Bottom Line:

While there are certainly holes in his profile, Dameon Pierce is one of the more well-rounded players at his position in the 2022 draft class. He has the size, power, and tackle-breaking ability to thrive in-between the tackles and in short-yardage situations, while providing value on passing downs with natural hands, good route-running, and quality pass protection. Pierce will need to prove that he can handle a heavy workload at the next level, but just because he didn’t do it at Florida, doesn’t mean he can’t be that guy in the NFL. Either way, he will be an instant producer as a third-down back to whoever drafts him. That will provide a nice floor for his fantasy managers with the upside to become more.

Post Draft Analysis:

Dameon Pierce is one of the biggest winners of the draft. He lands on a wide open depth chart with an opportunity to play a significant role as a rookie. His pass-catching prowess will allow him to be a fantasy contributor even inside one of the league’s worst offenses. He is certainly a big post-draft riser, but we need to be careful not to prop him up too far simply based on landing spot. We did that with Trey Sermon and Michael Carter a year ago. With that said, Pierce is one of the better early-to-mid second round rookie picks.

Resources: DLF, PlayerProfiler, PFN, PFF, TDN

Yards Per-Formance Prospect Grade