Anyone who has watched one iota of Kansas City Chiefs football in the last few years can see that their inability to run the football has both led to the regression of Patrick Mahomes and put a very hard cap on their overall ceiling. At 5-5, the playoffs are by no means a given.
The Houston Texans, who themselves are fighting for their playoff life at 5-5, believe that they need to get rid of running back Dameon Pierce in order to build a more complete team. Could this lead to Kansas City falling backwards into a new starting running back via waivers?
Even with running back Joe Mixon not expected to play in the 2025 season due to an injury, the Texans decided to release Pierce. Houston's desire to see what could become of a Woody Marks and Nick Chubb-led backfield is what ended up kicking Pierce out of town.
Even though Pierce's stock is as low as it has ever been in the pros, it is by no means ridiculous to assume that he could immediately come into Kansas City, should he even be available to them on waivers, and start to take snaps away from Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco.
Chiefs need to hope former Texans RB Dameon Pierce can be claimed on waivers
The concerns with Pierce obviously stem from the fact that he never had tremendous breakout speed in the best of times. The big problem in Kansas City's current running back room is the lack of big plays, especially from Hunt.
Pierce hasn't been truly above-average since a breakout rookie season in which he almost rushed for 1,000 yards and scored five touchdowns. After being usurped by Devin Singletary, Pierce has slowly lost carries to the point where he only had 10 this season despite the Mixon injury.
The bar to clear to be a better running back than Hunt is so far beneath the surface of the earth that it's covered in magma. Pierce, if nothing else, has more wiggle than Hunt and power than Pacheco while showing he can hold his own as a pass-protecting back.
Going from Nick Caley, whom Texans fans are ready to personally fly out of town, to Andy Reid might be the schematic upgrade and fresh coat of paint the former Florida star needs to get his career back on the right path as soon as possible.