2022 NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Dameon Pierce, RB, Florida

Dameon Pierce; Vanderbilt v Florida this past season

Dameon Pierce was a four-star running back coming out of high school. He was in the rotation for his first two years at Florida, gathering 729 rushing yards and four touchdowns, but did not have much of an impact.

He comes in with a low workload compared to other running backs but is highly effective when he does touch the ball. Interestingly, although Pierce split time in the backfield, he led all running backs in college last season with a 92.0 overall PFF grade. The score itself was mainly propped up by a fantastic performance consistently showcased by Pierce, posting above a 70 running back grade in 11 of 13 games.

---

Dameon Pierce Profile

Name	Dameon Pierce
Age	22
Height	5’10”
Weight	215
Position	RB
School	Florida

---

Dameon Pierce Combine Results

Arm Length (inches)	30 ¾”
40-Yard Dash Time (seconds)	4.59
Short Shuttle/Pro Agility (seconds)	N/A
Three Cone/”L-Drill” (seconds)	N/A
Vertical Jump (feet. inches)	34.5
Broad Jump (inches)	119

---

Dameon Pierce Scouting Report

Pierce's third year at Florida was when he took over the starting job and rushed for 503 yards and four touchdowns.

In his final year, Pierce only started one game but still managed to have a highly productive year, rushing for 574 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also demonstrated himself to be a threat in the passing game, where he caught 19 receptions for 216 yards and three touchdowns in his senior year (he averaged 11.4 yards every time he caught the ball).

Despite Pierce’s production as a Gator, he was underutilized and did not play as much as he should have.

---

Strengths

Dameon Pierce is an excellent running back who possesses a compact frame, good speed, and the power to burst through the line of scrimmage. He is a grinder in the weight room and has highly explosive hips that help give him a quick burst and the power to fight for extra yards.

He also possesses excellent balance and strength, making it very difficult to tackle him. When he is handed the ball, he quickly processes blocking assignments and does not hesitate, which allows him to run through the correct holes hard and fast. Dameon can also sneak out of the backfield and be a threat in the passing game.

---

Weaknesses

Due to his size, Dameon Pierce has average quickness in changing direction and struggles with making intricate cuts. Although he is more of a power-style running back, his film shows that he runs smoother on outside zone plays than running up the middle.

He also does not possess breakaway speed in the open field. Another area in which he needs improvement is his pass blocking. Pierce tends to throw himself into the block instead of using his hands.

---

Trait-Based Projection

Dameon Pierce possesses the traits to thrive in multiple types of running schemes. He has good speed, quickness, and power, allowing him to run in the outside zone or power run schemes.

He is more natural as a runner in outside zone run schemes but has more traits to be a better running back in a power run scheme. Either way, Pierce would be an excellent option for short-yardage and goal-line situations and pose a threat in the passing game.

---

Analytics Corner

Football, in particular the running game, is viewed by coaches within the context of “staying on script”. That is, coaches really don’t care what a RB averages per carry, but based on the down and distance, how often is this RB “keeping us on script”, like getting 5 yards on 1st and 10, or converting a 3rd down. There is a stat that captures this called “Success Rate”.

The Success Rate essentially measures how often a player keeps their Offensive Coordinator “on script”. With all that being said, Dameon Pierce led all RBs in the draft at a success rate of 58%. Another, simpler way to look at this is: how consistently good is this player. Hence, for an RB this is critical. And given the fact that Pierce is 4 percentage points (or more than 7 percent) higher second-bestcond best RB in the draft, bodes extremely well for a back who may be carrying a “low touch / high result” narrative.

The sentiment that Pierce “came out of nowhere” this season, has some truth to it even when ignoring volume stats and focusing on efficiency numbers. According to PFF, Pierce went from a 63.5 - 74.3 graded RB to one with a 92.2 grade. It’s a pretty big jump and can give some NFL execs pause.

Follow all the updates from Day 1 of NFL Draft 2022 on Sportskeeda's live blog