Omarion Hampton appears to be making his return to the LA Chargers after the Week 12 bye, but nothing is set in stone. The rookie running back has missed six weeks and hasn't had his 21-day practice window opened heading into the bye.
The hope is that Hampton can return after the bye, but that is far from guaranteed. And even once he returns, there's no guarantee he can carry the same offensive workload as he did pre-injury. The entire plan for Hampton was to split carries with Najee Harris and that was quickly thrown out when Harris tore his Achilles.
Second-year running back Kimani Vidal has shown flashes but has been unproductive in recent weeks. With Vidal's inconsistency and Hampton's lingering injury, the Chargers should be interested in bringing in experienced running back help. Unfortunately, experienced running backs don't grow on trees.
But one is available on the waiver wire. The Houston Texans waived Dameon Pierce on Thursday, giving the Chargers an opportunity to bolster the team's depth on offense.
Dameon Pierce makes sense for Chargers after being waived by Texans
Pierce became the odd man out in Houston with the Texans turning to back Woody Marks and Nick Chubb. The 25-year-old fourth-round pick has carried the ball just 10 times for 26 yards this season. He's played only 23 offensive snaps.
Right now, the Chargers don't have great options at running back. Vidal is an unproven second-year player who can thrive against the right opponent but hasn't shown the requisite consistency to be a trusted back. Hassan Haskins is on IR, and the Chargers are down to random practice squad running backs behind that.
Fans saw firsthand how dangerous this could be against the Jacksonville Jaguars. VIdal suffered a lower-body injury and while he eventually returned to the game, the Chargers had to rely on players who shouldn't be on an NFL roster. A playoff contender cannot afford for that to be the case.
Pierce isn't going to come in and revolutionize the Chargers' run game. To suggest that would be silly. He does, however, provide legitimate NFL experience that can step in as a rotational piece, or even as part of a duo if he proves to be a valuable commodity once Hampton returns.
Plus, it's not like this costs the Chargers anything. It's a waiver claim. The team might as well take a chance on someone who has starting experience versus role the dice on random practice squad elevations. General manager Joe Hortiz has stressed the importance of improving on the fringes, and this would do that.
Pierce has become a bit of an afterthought in today's NFL, but he is still only 25 years old and has been productive in the not-so-distant past. It wasn't that long ago that Pierce picked up 939 yards on the ground on 220 carries in his rookie season.
If the Chargers got even 70% of that version of Pierce it would be wildly successful considering the alternatives.