The Facts: C.J. Stroud's play as a rookie will ultimately determine how quickly the Houston Texans' latest rebuild gets up to speed, but he'll get a little help along the way from the running game. New HC DeMeco Ryans brought OC Bobby Slowik over from San Francisco with designs on running the Shanahan system, a scheme that historically has generated successful rushing campaigns. "Similar run game with our outside zone scheme," Ryans noted Monday when asked about the similarities between the Texans' and 49ers' run games. The hope is that an explosive second-year back like Pierce can provide the baseline for the Texans' offense.

Diehards Line: As a rookie, Pierce displayed power and nimbleness to bounce off defenders. The back generated 939 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 220 carries in 13 games. Pierce led the Texans with 1,104 scrimmage yards in 2022 (fourth among rookies). Those numbers would have been better with improved blocking. Pierce was hit at or behind the line of scrimmage on 118 of his 220 carries (53.6 percent) in 2022, per Pro Football Focus. He generated 38 forced missed tackles on such carries, second in the NFL behind Nick Chubb. Pierce had 62 forced missed tackles on runs in 2022, fourth in the NFL, per PFF, behind only Josh Jacobs (90), Chubb (83) and Derrick Henry (69). However, each of those three RB had 300-plus carries in 2022. Pierce had 220. The rookie's 28.2 percent forced missed tackles rate last season led the NFL. Combining power, vision and gymnast-like balance at contact, Pierce profiles as an ideal workhorse in Slowik's system. Ryans believes production out of the backfield will help Stroud make strides as a rookie.