The Texans will be without Joe Mixon (ankle) for a third straight week when they host the Bills in one of the best Sunday afternoon matchups of Week 5. With Mixon sidelined, is Cam Akers ($5,500) or Dameon Pierce ($5,000) a solid fantasy option this week? Let’s take a look.
Whichever running back gets playing time will be in a good matchup. The Bills have given up more fantasy points to opposing running backs this season than any other team in the NFL. Last week, they let Derrick Henry ($7,800) run wild for 38.9 fantasy points and have given up an average of 117.8 rushing yards and 62.5 receiving yards per week to the position.
Pierce has been sidelined since Week 1 with a hamstring injury, but was able to return to practice in a limited role on Friday.
At the start of the season, Pierce was ahead of Akers on the depth chart. Mixon played 72% of snaps in Week 1, while Pierce played 11% and Akers was a healthy scratch. In Week 2, Akers replaced Pierce as Mixon’s backup and then took over for Mixon as the starter in Week 3. In his two games against the Vikings and Jaguars, Akers totaled 74 rushing yards on 22 carries while catching an eight-yard touchdown as his only reception.
Akers did share time with Dare Ogunbowale ($4,800) in Week 4, and the veteran backup snagged the game-winning touchdown against his former team on his way to 15.4 fantasy points. If Pierce is out again, he’d have flier upside if the Texans have to play from behind and go pass-heavy, like they did at the end of last week’s game.
If Pierce is active, he and Akers will likely share time. While the presence of the other does limit their ceilings, Pierce has a ton of upside for an asset at just $5,000 in DFS contests like the NFL $3.25M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st].
Pierce showed a lot of ceiling in his rookie season back in 2022 when he racked up 939 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 220 carries in 13 games. He fell behind Devin Singletary on the depth chart last season, though, and ultimately was expected to be the backup to Mixon this season.
He is a fringe RB3/FLEX if he plays this week, as well as an intriguing DFS value option.
If Pierce is out, Akers would also be a fringe RB3/FLEX play based on the matchup. He did score a touchdown in Week 3, producing 9.9 fantasy points against a tough Vikings defense.
The Texans are one-point home favorites on Sunday against the Bills with Akers at +105 to score a touchdown, tied with his teammate Nico Collins ($7,700) for the shortest odds of any player in the game to find the end zone. Ogunbowale is also on the board as a +450 long shot to score a touchdown.
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