Louisville Slugger
Footballguy
With many drafts being held this weekend this news out of N.O. could have major implications for people thinking of taking Pierre Thomas fairly early in their draft.
Let me start out by saying thatI have been all over P. Thomas as THE MOST UNDERVAUED player in all of fantasy football this season. If you were to combine Thomas's + Duece McCalister's numbers from last season it would look like this...
1,043 rushing yard
482 recieving yard
18 td's
236 rush attempts
49 receptions
Assuming that Thomas would get all of those touches (and most likely a few more due to R.Bush inevitably getting hurt at some point) you could justify taking him early/mid second round with the hope that he could improve on those rushing yards in such an explosive offense.
I projected Thomas numbers as follows
1,150 rushing yards
400 recieving yards
14 td's
Now comes world out of N.O. that the team may go with a three headed monster approach http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2009/...ay_take_ru.html that would crush Thomas's value. The emergence of Mike Bell could drop Thomas from a consensus late third round pick to a 7th round selection.
For some reason the Saints just don't seem to like Thomas.
a) Despite Duece McCalister being a shadow of his former self last year they gave him the ball rather than Thomas to start the season.
b) All off season all N.O. did was talk about acquiring another rb. The discussion was to sign Edgerrin James or to draft Beanie Wells. Granted they didn't do either, but the constant discussion speaks volumes about what they think of Pierre Thomas.
c) Mike Bell is a solid runner who was quite effective in Denver for a season or two.
d) Thomas is having some issues (seemingly minor at this point) with his MCL.
In my mind there are now enough signs out there that point to not drafting Pierre Thomas with the expectation of him being THE MAN in New Orleans... I'm glad this news came out before my draft, but it kind of kills my strategy of picking him up to be a difference maker.
Let me start out by saying thatI have been all over P. Thomas as THE MOST UNDERVAUED player in all of fantasy football this season. If you were to combine Thomas's + Duece McCalister's numbers from last season it would look like this...
1,043 rushing yard
482 recieving yard
18 td's
236 rush attempts
49 receptions
Assuming that Thomas would get all of those touches (and most likely a few more due to R.Bush inevitably getting hurt at some point) you could justify taking him early/mid second round with the hope that he could improve on those rushing yards in such an explosive offense.
I projected Thomas numbers as follows
1,150 rushing yards
400 recieving yards
14 td's
Now comes world out of N.O. that the team may go with a three headed monster approach http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2009/...ay_take_ru.html that would crush Thomas's value. The emergence of Mike Bell could drop Thomas from a consensus late third round pick to a 7th round selection.
For some reason the Saints just don't seem to like Thomas.
a) Despite Duece McCalister being a shadow of his former self last year they gave him the ball rather than Thomas to start the season.
b) All off season all N.O. did was talk about acquiring another rb. The discussion was to sign Edgerrin James or to draft Beanie Wells. Granted they didn't do either, but the constant discussion speaks volumes about what they think of Pierre Thomas.
c) Mike Bell is a solid runner who was quite effective in Denver for a season or two.
d) Thomas is having some issues (seemingly minor at this point) with his MCL.
In my mind there are now enough signs out there that point to not drafting Pierre Thomas with the expectation of him being THE MAN in New Orleans... I'm glad this news came out before my draft, but it kind of kills my strategy of picking him up to be a difference maker.
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