The Houston Texans are in a hurry to find a new running back, and they’re hoping that among all those they’ve brought in for visits, Pierre Thomas, formerly with the New Orleans Saints, will be the one that ends up playing for them.
Thomas, an eight-season veteran who will be turning 31 in December and was part of the Super Bowl victory following the 2009 season, has played his entire career for the Saints, released a few months ago. He has 3745 yards and 28 touchdowns, averaging 4.6 yards per carry throughout his career, including 222 yards with two touchdowns on only 45 carries last season.
Thomas, along with others, has been brought in to fill the place of Arian Foster, going down with a groin injury that should keep him out of action till at least week 8 of the regular season if not longer. There are Alfred Blue and Jonathan Grimes who can pick up some of the slack, but this forces the Texans to go into a running back committee mode, which means at least one more player who can be part of the equation.
Thomas isn’t going to be a number one option, he’s never been. But Blue and Grimes are both inefficient runners who don’t go breaking off on huge runs. Thomas has more speed and ability to get around the edges, and is better than the both of them in the passing game, although picking up big numbers as a receiving target will be difficult considering the Texans’ troublesome quarterback situation.