Who Should I Start? Dameon Pierce or Jaleel McLaughlin

Wednesday, July 23, 11:07 AM

The Houston Texans placed both wide receiver Tank Dell (knee) and running back Dameon Pierce (undisclosed) on the Physically Unable to Perform list on Wednesday, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Dell suffered a dislocated knee and tore his ACL, MCL and LCL last year in Week 16, so he's not expected to practice at all in training camp or play at all in 2025. The 25-year-old has already had multiple surgeries on his knee in the offseason and may never be the same player if he's able to return in 2026. It's part of the reason why Houston drafted rookie pass-catchers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. Pierce, meanwhile, will be sidelined to begin training camp this summer with an undisclosed ailment, but he can be activated at any time. When healthy, he'll primarily be battling former Brown Nick Chubb for backup duties to Joe Mixon (ankle).

Monday, January 13, 10:50 AM

Denver Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin was a complete non-factor in the team's 31-7 blowout loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday on wild-card weekend. Like most of the season, Denver's backfield was stuck in the mud and couldn't get anything going to control the game, with rookie quarterback Bo Nix leading the team with 43 rushing yards on four carries. McLaughlin, who had been the leader of a committee backfield late in the season, had only two rushing attempts for minus-two yards while catching his only target for no gain. It was a dismal end to the 24-year-old's second season in the NFL. He finished with 113 carries for 496 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and only one rushing touchdown in 16 regular-season games while adding 24 catches for 76 yards and two more TDs through the air. Denver will surely look to upgrade their backfield in the offseason to give more help to Nix in 2025.