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Aaron Stecker or Pierre Thomas (1 Viewer)

On The Rocks

Footballguy
I have Reggie Bush and need the replacement.

I can't afford to roll the dice. I need a "waiver claim lock" and only have one move allowed.

Who is it going to be? Stecker or Thomas?

 
Go with Stecker - he's played more and Pierre Thomas has a bruised kidney that had him inactive last week.
I have a feeling Pierre's bruised kidney may heal miraculously by Sunday. With injuries to McAllister and Bush, Pierre Thomas has a shot to steal the role of primary ball carrier not only this year, but going into next year as well and I think he'll do whatever he can to take advantage of this opportunity, including playing through an injury. From what I've read he's a workhorse type of back, so if he really plays well I see no reason why the Saints wouldn't go into next year with Thomas as the primary ball carrier and Bush (if/when he fully recovers) goes back to 3rd down/pass catching duties, which seems like the role they want him to have. Much like McAllister/Bush, it would be Thomas/Bush.Stecker is Stecker. He's in his 8th year as a backup RB/utility guy. We have no reason to think he'll all of a sudden have what it takes to be a #1RB. Besides, the Saint seem to like him where he is, so I think they'd be more apt to leave Stecker alone and move Thomas into Bush's role.Pierre= primary RB + GL/short ydg carriesStecker= 3rd down/passing situations
 
Stecker's a very ordinary runner but he is a good receiver and in a PPR league he's not a bad RB3 this week in my opinion. Atlanta's run defense isn't very good and they give up a healthy number of receptions to RBs each week. Stecker won't duplicate Bush's production as a receiver but I think he could get 4-6 without too much difficulty. If he gets the majority of the carries he could get 60+ rushing yards. So I think he has a shot about 90+ total yards with an outside chance for a TD.

If you're scrambling for flex help in a PPR league I think Stecker's become pretty viable this week. After this week it could become more of a crapshoot but I think this week strongly favors Stecker being the more valuable RB to replace Bush.

 
Stecker is Stecker. He's in his 8th year as a backup RB/utility guy. We have no reason to think he'll all of a sudden have what it takes to be a #1RB. Besides, the Saint seem to like him where he is, so I think they'd be more apt to leave Stecker alone and move Thomas into Bush's role.
Same thing I said about Fargas this year, but it was only 4 years.
 
The news on Thomas' injury has been improving all week and he did practice today, so I expect he will be active this week and be in a job share. Who will get the more carries? More than likely, the safe bet is Stecker, at least this week. I like Thomas more for the long term, but Stecker has more experience and as long as they have hopes of making the playoffs I think Stecker will see more action. But if NO gets eliminated look for a large dose of Pierre Thomas so that the coaches can evaluate him. If he does well then he could occupy the primary role of Deuce next year in tandem with Bush.

 
The news on Thomas' injury has been improving all week and he did practice today, so I expect he will be active this week and be in a job share. Who will get the more carries? More than likely, the safe bet is Stecker, at least this week. I like Thomas more for the long term, but Stecker has more experience and as long as they have hopes of making the playoffs I think Stecker will see more action. But if NO gets eliminated look for a large dose of Pierre Thomas so that the coaches can evaluate him. If he does well then he could occupy the primary role of Deuce next year in tandem with Bush.
Thomas has more power than Stecker IMO. He could see some action depends on Stecker.
 
For those of you who like to parse HC comments, here is a transcript of Payton's Friday press conference on this subject. It sounds like Thomas is 100% recovered but I can't tell from this what the job share would be if Bush can't go. Payton is also optimistic about a Bush recovery, and I do think that the PCL is the easiest from which to recover, but still... Sounds like the injury probably happened last Sunday. If the Saints can stay in the playoff hunt my bet is that Bush will be back in a couple of weeks but if not, then they will IR him in a couple of weeks. I can't believe he would play this week, one week out of tearing his PCL.

Head Coach Sean Payton Friday Transcript

Marcus Ungaro, NewOrleansSaints.com

Friday, December 07, 2007 - 3:10 PM

Opening statement

“First things first, from an injury front Pierre Thomas was full today and we will list him as probable for this game. Everything came back negative yesterday as far as the tests, so he is ready to go. As far as Reggie Bush, he practiced yesterday, he had some soreness so we had an MRI done and he has a PCL (Posterior Cruciate Ligament) tear. What that means really is this, we held him out today and will list him as questionable for this game, he has soreness and swelling in the knee, yesterday he was able to practice on it and he will be a game time decision and we will continue to monitor where he is at in his progress with rehab but that’s the news on his injury. The MRI that was done yesterday revealed that.”

Do you know when he sustained the injury?

“He had some PCL damage prior and from the last MRI to this MRI, it would appear it was in the last game.”

Does this require surgery?

“Generally not for a PCL. Generally it heals and some scar tissue builds up and usually no surgery done with it.”

A national report says that he is done for the season, is that true?

“Yeah I don’t know if that would be the case right now. I think that would be a little premature, I don’t know who reported it but if you just study the history of PCL tears, I know they vary with each player and I know it is an injury that you can come back from, and we will see, I am still hopeful for this weekend’s game based on how he practiced yesterday. It is going to come down to the swelling and the condition of it as it applies to him playing.”

Have you ever had someone tear a PCL before?

“The defensive end from the Chargers, Merriman (Shawn) had one. I would have to go back and check, but I think he was two weeks. You know it just depends on how quickly it heals. It is not something that you go in and repair surgically, I know that.”

Is it one of those things that if you can deal with the pain you can play? Or do you take a risk?

“I don’t know about that, the key is just is the pain involved and is the swelling involved and kind of calming it down and so , that is kind of where we are at and we are going to monitor it and see how he does and make sure he is up to speed as possible. I think that it would be a little premature to say that this is a season ending injury, but we are going to spend some time tonight again and our doctors have had some time to take a look at the film and we are going to have a second set of eyes on it and spend some time going over the findings. A lot of it is just going to deal with the pain and how quickly we can get it calmed down and we are going to spend some time tonight with the doctors involved and we will see where he is at.”

With the injury to Reggie and with Pierre not at 100%, does that mean more for Jamaal Branch?

“Well Pierre is at 100%, it was really, he was chomping at the bit waiting for the tint to leave his urine, but he is at 100%, Aaron is feeling well, we look at Jamal as someone that can maybe be involved if Reggie cant go, but I am still optimistic for this weekend. He was able to practice yesterday and that was encouraging, and I made the comment that I thought he was further along on a Wednesday then he had been in weeks prior, but we will see what he feels like at game time, and it will be a game time decision.”

http://www.neworleanssaints.com/Articles/2...Transcript.aspx

 
Dang... who to drop for Thomas, Scheffler or Pope... I'm definitely going to pick up Thomas. He's the guy with the best upside to me.

 
Dang... who to drop for Thomas, Scheffler or Pope... I'm definitely going to pick up Thomas. He's the guy with the best upside to me.
stecker is the starter, id focus on getting him if i were you. unless you are thinking for next year with upside.
Stecker is gone in my league, but I really feel that Pierre would be the goal line back, and would be hard to keep off the field if Bush is done. I think by the end of week 14, Stecker is the 3rd down back. Pierre is most else. Just my low risk bet.
 
In my dynasty league's waivers this week (processed Thurs) I dropped Stecker for Thomas just because Thomas has looked like the better back to me and I forsee Stecker getting let go in the offseason so the Saints can roll with Thomas, Deuce, and Bush next yr. I think it says a lot that Payton cut A Pittman for him after spending a much higher draft pick on Pittman. I didn't realize Bush would be out at the time though and agree that Stecker is the better play for the next week or 2.

 
I think Thomas has a higher ceiling than Stecker... and the Saints probably do too. IMHO Thomas is the play here, not Stecker. At worst they split carries starting this weekend, then we see if Thomas can grab the bull by the horns.

They did get some good news Friday, however, when Thomas returned to practice. Thomas missed Sunday's game with a kidney injury, but Payton deemed him "100 percent" Friday.

"I came back a little winded. But I'm good. I'm back and I'm ready to go," said Thomas, an undrafted rookie out of Illinois who scored his only career rushing touchdown against the Falcons in Week 7
. http://www.nola.com/saints/t-p/?/base/spor....xml&coll=1

 
In my dynasty league's waivers this week (processed Thurs) I dropped Stecker for Thomas just because Thomas has looked like the better back to me and I forsee Stecker getting let go in the offseason so the Saints can roll with Thomas, Deuce, and Bush next yr. I think it says a lot that Payton cut A Pittman for him after spending a much higher draft pick on Pittman. I didn't realize Bush would be out at the time though and agree that Stecker is the better play for the next week or 2.
This seems right to me.Dynasty - P ThomasRedraft - Stecker
 
Steck will get 5 too 7 recs which makes him the better PPR play... but I got the feeling that Thomas is a nice sneaky play (GLs)... of course I own Steck and not Thomas...

 
Thomas has looked pretty good in limited action. Id love to see what he can do with more oppurtunity

 
anybody rolling the dice with Thomas this week? I noticed he got 12 carries last week with Bush playing

 
I am. My gut tells me that NO coaches will want to see what he can do too with more carries as they look to next year. I have a feeling he will play alot and Stecker will be the third down back.

 
Is blitz pickup a consideration between these two? I would think with Stecker having more experience he gets the nod as he's less likely to miss a pickup and allow Brees to get hit.

 
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Is blitz pickup a consideration between these two? I would think with Stecker having more experience he gets the nod as he's less likely to miss a pickup and allow Brees to get hit.
I'm betting Stecker's better at this, but not by much. Thomas was a starter at Illinois with bad o-lines for almost all 4 years, was a team captain and complete RB. There's a difference at the pro level, but unlike some college backs he has LOTS of experience as a blocking RB and I've seen evidence of it thus far from his limited play.
 
wow a WDIS that made 21 posts in the Shark Pool. Impressive. Everyone must be in the Patriots threads :rolleyes:

My gut say Pierre Thomas. The truth might be that the situation ends up being a mini-version of what it was like when they Deuce and Bush.

-QG

 
I'm probably higher on Thomas than most everybody, but Stecker will likely get the bulk of the carries (at least this week). Payton is very loyal to his veterans. I love Thomas, & he may overtake Stecker this season, but it'll probably be a slow process. I hope I'm wrong, tho. I'd like to see more of Thomas.

PT reminds me somewhat of Marion Barber. Thoams may not be quite as strong as Barber, but he's very hard to get on the ground (like MB). I liked him in college & thought he could possibly get drafted. Easily beating out a 4th round pick (Antonio Pittman) shows he probably should've been drafted. Anyway, I'm curious to see what happens tonight. Not so much concerned with his stats, but I'm interested in continuing my evaluation of him.

 
espn just reported that pt may be the man tonight. i wish there was more info on this on fbg as i gotta start one of these guys and i'm not getting much info anywhere.

 
I'm probably higher on Thomas than most everybody, but Stecker will likely get the bulk of the carries (at least this week). Payton is very loyal to his veterans. I love Thomas, & he may overtake Stecker this season, but it'll probably be a slow process. I hope I'm wrong, tho. I'd like to see more of Thomas.

PT reminds me somewhat of Marion Barber. Thoams may not be quite as strong as Barber, but he's very hard to get on the ground (like MB). I liked him in college & thought he could possibly get drafted. Easily beating out a 4th round pick (Antonio Pittman) shows he probably should've been drafted. Anyway, I'm curious to see what happens tonight. Not so much concerned with his stats, but I'm interested in continuing my evaluation of him.
I like PT. :football: He's got that intangible quality and any players that bump out a draft pick RB is always interesting.
 
No one dropped the 'Bush isn't any good' line yet? I was expecting that by reply 2 at least.

Colour me disappointed in the current maturity level of TSP.

 
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It sounds like Bush may be out for the rest of the season, which will give Thomas time to slowly work his way into a future role.

BTW, it sounds like Bush has been injured for a while, which may explain his less than stellar running this year.

 

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