The Houston Texans are playing some surprisingly good football this year, especially on the offensive end. The passing game, led by C.J. Stroud, has been terrific all year, but the rushing attack has started to get much better.
The rushing game wasn’t as great last week, as the Texans rushed the ball 18 times for only 91 yards. A big part of that was because the team was behind the Jacksonville Jaguars early, and then they had to pass the ball.
Devin Singletary and Dameon Pierce are the two main running backs for the Texans. Which one of these two should fantasy football managers have in their lineups?
Should You Start Devin Singletary or Dameon Pierce This Week?
In the Pro Football Network Start/Sit Optimizer, PFN’s Consensus Rankings say Singletary is the player to start. His projected 10.6 points include a projection of 41 rushing yards, three receptions, and 19 yards. That doesn’t seem like a big stat line, but it outperforms the consensus projection for Pierce (8.1).
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I am going to go with the Optimizer on this, as Singletary’s ability to make plays out of the backfield is the difference. Also, the offense when he filled in for Pierce during his injury was very good.
Singletary Fantasy Outlook This Week
During Weeks 10 and 11, Singletary was one of the best fantasy running backs. He had 52 carries for 262 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Singletary had only 18 rushing yards on just six carries in last week’s loss to the Jaguars.
It was a disappointing week for Singletary last week, but he is still the better play of the two running backs.
The ability to catch the ball out of the backfield is such an added bonus for running backs in fantasy, and Singletary is a big-time threat. Even though he rushed for only 18 yards, he had six catches for 54 yards in the loss to Jacksonville. In fact, the 54 yards were the second-most Singletary has had in a game in his career.
Even though Pierce was back from injury in that game, Singletary was still on the field for 80% of the snaps. That was the third straight game Singletary was on the field for at least 80% of Houston’s offensive snaps.
The Broncos defense has been playing much better since the infamous loss to the Miami Dolphins, but this is still ranked as the worst defense in the league.
Pierce Fantasy Outlook This Week
Pierce returned last week after missing three games but only got on the field for 11 of the Texans’ offensive snaps — easily a season-low. It is too late in the season to keep switching between two running backs, and right now, the offense is much better with Singletary playing.
That was his first game back, so it is obviously understandable why he didn’t play as much. Is there a chance he will see his workload increased this week? Yes, absolutely. However, it is hard to see a scenario where the Texans go back to him being the running back who gets the majority of the carries.
With that in mind, as long as Singletary is healthy, it’s difficult to justify selecting Pierce to be a starter in your fantasy lineup before Singletary.
Looking to make a trade in your fantasy league? Having trouble deciding who to start and who to sit? Setting DFS lineups? Check out PFN’s Free Fantasy Football Trade Analyzer, Start/Sit Optimizer, and DFS Lineup Optimizer to help you make the right decision!
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