What It Means:

Texans head coach Lovie Smith is staying mum on the matter, but Pierce is fully expected to open the season as the lead back ahead of Rex Burkhead and Marlon Mack. The bigger question is whether the rookie's body will be able to hold up over the course of the season, as he only averaged 103.0 carries over his final two college campaigns. Burkhead should operate as the preferred option in passing situations, with Mack spelling Pierce on early downs.

Pierce is currently the RB26 in numberFire's Week 1 rankings and he has a $5,400 salary on FanDuel. Our models project him to lead the Texans with 13.5 carries for 58.2 yards, plus another 11.8 receiving yards on 1.5 catches. Burkhead is projected for 6.3 touches and Mack is pegged for 2.6 touches.