Pierre Thomas (1 Viewer)

[JHicks22]

I was wondering if any had any information on Pierre Thomas from NO. He looks like he could sneak in and eventually fill in the void that Deuce left after his injury. Bush and Stecker are similar runners, and I think Thomas more fits the Thunder role that Deuce played. The Saints felt good enough about Thomas to let 4th round pick Pittman go, that's saying something. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

 

[the hairy scotsman]

 

[benm3218]

I never would have thought that Bush and Stecker were similar runners.... Are you a Saints fan?

 

[prymetyme25]

The question we should be asking is, Who is Pierre Thomas?

Can we get any scouting reports, stats, Bios, or Draft Reports?

 

[zamboni]

I never would have thought that Bush and Stecker were similar runners.... Are you a Saints fan?

I think he means in terms of style, obviously not talent. Both have a shiftier rather than powerful running style.

 

[JHicks22]

I never would have thought that Bush and Stecker were similar runners.... Are you a Saints fan?

No Saints fan. A Cowboys fan actually. I guess I should clarify about them being similar. They both are similar physically (Bush 6"0/205, Stecker 5"11/210) and neither are bruising runners. Both return kicks/punts. Supposedly Pierre Thomas is more of a North/South runner than a East/West runner.

 

[zamboni]

The question we should be asking is, Who is Pierre Thomas?

Can we get any scouting reports, stats, Bios, or Draft Reports?

Some good info here:http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index...howtopic=347508

 

[JHicks22]

I found a decent scouting report on him:

Ht: 5' 11" Wt: 210 Age: 22 College: Illinois HOMETOWN: Lynwood IL — BORN: 12/18/84 — PREP: Rushed for 2365 yards with 38 touchdowns as a senior. — MAJOR: Sport ManagementCOLLEGE2003: Played in six games as a true freshman. Averaged 19.1 yards/kick return for 134 yards. — 2004: Played in eleven games as a sophomore. Averaged 27.1 yards/kick return for 677 yards with a touchdown. Rushed for 188 yards versus Michigan State. — 2005: Started six of eleven games for the Fighting Illini as a junior. Averaged 23.0 yards/kick return for 461 yards. Shared time at the position with E. B. Halsey. — 2006: Started ten of twelve games as a senior. Averaged 31.9 yards/kick return for 223 yards. SCOUTING REPORTSTRENGTHS: Experienced. Has played versus very good I-A competition. Strong build. 21 reps of 225#. 35½" vertical. Runs with good vision and balance. Effective between the tackles. Able to break tackles and gain yards after initial contact. Smooth change of directions. Patient, allows blocks to develop before accelerating through the hole. Runs north south. Can bounce the play outside. Can make the first defender miss. Able to convert short yardage plays. Protects the ball. Capable receiver out of the backfield. Shows some ability as a route runner. Will extend hands and catch the ball out away from body. Shows blocking ability with good blitz awareness and recognition. Has been effective returning kicks. Hard worker. Coachable, will do the film study, weight room work, and the little things to be effective on the next level. Competitive team player. — CONCERNS: Average instincts. Lacks a burst and the speed to take it the distance. Not elusive or creative. Was not invited to the Combine. — SUMMARY: Not flashy, but a halfback than can run, catch, block, and return kicks.

 

[ATC1]

Thomas is the rest Pitman was waived. He was impressive in camp and could be a great deep sleeper here. The thing is that I feel he fills Bush's role more than Deuce's. However, I guess the same can be said for Stecker.

 

[prymetyme25]

The question we should be asking is, Who is Pierre Thomas?

Can we get any scouting reports, stats, Bios, or Draft Reports?

Some good info here:http://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index...howtopic=347508

Thanks that was very helpful.

 

[nola]

Thomas was very impressive in preseason. Ran hard, broke many tackles. Some nice receptions. As a Saints fan I have high hopes. But his production was against 3rd teamers in preseason. I hope he looks as quick against NFL starters.

 

[Voice Of Reason]

Thomas was very impressive in preseason. Ran hard, broke many tackles. Some nice receptions. As a Saints fan I have high hopes. But his production was against 3rd teamers in preseason. I hope he looks as quick against NFL starters.

I don't see him having much fantasy value though. He'd have to play such a high level to overcome Payton's man-crush on Reggie, especially at the goalline.

 

[Lefty27]

Thomas is the rest Pitman was waived. He was impressive in camp and could be a great deep sleeper here. The thing is that I feel he fills Bush's role more than Deuce's. However, I guess the same can be said for Stecker.

I'm thinking he is going to fill Stecker's role more than Bush's. He'll be the guy in on 3rd and short, or even as part of the goal line package to save wear-n-tear on #25 and #27.

 

[Pigskins]

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton was asked Wednesday if Aaron Stecker would take over Deuce McAllister's role in the offense, and Peyton made it clear that wouldn't be the case. Reggie Bush will pick up most of the running workload.

"Reggie will get more carries. Stecker will be involved and Pierre Thomas will be involved, but you'll see Reggie get more handoffs."

As we all expect Bush will get bulk of carries. Which means they will be able to open up the passing game more and move the rock. Hopefully that translates to more opportunities in the red zone. Stecker or Thomas should be the 3rd down backs. My bet is that Thomas will emerge to compliment Bush.

 

[Max Power]

my guess is they abandon the run all together. They didnt run when they had Deuce, why change it now?

 

[nola]

a look at last season:

Reggie averaged 15 touches per game, deuce averaged 17. Stecker chipped in 1.5 touches. They totaled 540 touches, averaging about 34 per game.

In the first 3 games this season, these 3 RBs averaged 27 touches combined. Over a 16 game season, that is 437 touches. At that same pace, the Saints RBs should have another 355 touches to go. Even giving Reggie 75% of those (last season he had 243, this projection would give him 311, counting the 45 he already has), there should still be about 90 touches minimum left for Thomas and/or Stecker. And that is assuming the Saints play 13 more games as ineptly as they played the first three.

Just for the sake of argument, lets say that the productivity of the RBs improves a little, to the average of last season's touch average and this seasons touch average (540+437, /2). Still a nearly 20% drop in RB touches from last season. That would give them about 396 touches left. Sounds reasonable. Taking 75% of those touches, Bush would average 23 touches for the remaining 13 games, up from 15 per game last season and 15 per game so far this season. For context, Tiki averaged 24, Westbrook averaged 21. So 23 is a big increase, but not impossible.

Best I can figure, there are about 100 touches left over for RBs not Reggie to divvy up. Thats 7-8 per game. And more than 1 guy trying to get them.

Bottom line- until Reggie is proven incapable of handling 23 tuches, AND either Stecker or Pierre Thomas emerges, there really isn't much fantasy value for Thomas or Stecker. Even if Bush only takes 20 per game, less than Westbrook, thats still only about 10 to divide between 2 guys. Yuck.

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Note: When I started this post, I thought I would reach a different conclusion. I liked what Thomas showed in pre-season, but there just aren't enough touches to go around. Especially disapointing since I added both Thomas and Stecker.