Pierre Thomas rushed four times for 19 yards and scored a 51-yard touchdown on his lone reception in the Saints' third preseason game. Perhaps most notably, Thomas opened the Saints' regular season dress rehearsal as the first-team tailback, ahead of Mark Ingram. Ultimately, Thomas is still more of a drain on Ingram's value than he is an independent fantasy contributor. He's a rotational, situational player who doesn't typically top 12 touches in any given week. We're not convinced Thomas is worth a re-draft fantasy pick.

Pierre Thomas (leg) participated in individual drills for the first time in a week on Tuesday.

Pierre Thomas is questionable for Friday's preseason opener with an undisclosed injury. Beat writer Mike Triplett insinuates Thomas has been dealing with the injury for a number of days. It's highly unlikely he plays Friday. Thomas started off camp ahead of Mark Ingram on the depth chart, but this won't help. Triplett suggests - and we agree - that Ingram remains the better fantasy bet.

The Saints have listed Pierre Thomas as the first-string running back on their initial depth chart. No surprise. Thomas has routinely outplayed Mark Ingram over the last two seasons and worked ahead of him during OTAs. Darren Sproles is listed as the third-team running back, but he'll end up playing the most snaps of the trio in his usual pass-catching role. Thomas and Ingram project to share carries when the Saints do execute base running plays.

Pierre Thomas said "there's going to be more focus this year on that ground game than any year" for the Saints. "[Coach] Sean [Payton] talked about that when he came back," Thomas said. "He said we've got to get back to running the ball, having 100-yard games non-stop. I can't wait. I'm excited and I know everybody else is excited." Thomas looks to be the main beneficiary from Chris Ivory's trade to New York. A year after rushing for 562 yards and five touchdowns while checking in as fantasy's No. 27 running back, Thomas rushed for just 473 yards and one score in 2012. Mark Ingram will likely handle much of the early-down work.

Saints placed Pierre Thomas (knee) on injured reserve, ending his season. Thomas first popped up on the injury report in Week 16, but managed to play in the Saints' win over the Cowboys, touching the ball 14 times for 77 yards. Thomas totaled 727 yards on 144 touches and scored twice this season. His landing on I.R. means the Saints will turn to a three-man committee of Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram, and Chris Ivory in Sunday's finale with the Panthers.

Pierre Thomas (knee) has been ruled out for Week 17. Chris Ivory (hamstring) is probable, so look for New Orleans' backfield to be a three-man committee of Ivory, Mark Ingram, and "satellite back" Darren Sproles against Carolina. Thomas, 28, will finish the 2012 season with 827 total yards and two touchdowns. He'll be a late-round pick in 2013 fantasy drafts again.

Pierre Thomas (knee) missed practice again on Thursday. Thomas has been battling the knee for a week now, but it didn't stop him from maiming the Cowboys out of the backfield last week. The two straight missed practices this week are a bit concerning, so we'd like to see Thomas get back out there on Friday in advance of Sunday's game against the Panthers.

Pierre Thomas (knee) sat out of Wednesday's practice. Thomas' injury first popped up last Thursday, but didn't stop him from totaling 77 yards on 14 touches against the Cowboys. The "DNP" is a mild concern, but he'll likely be back on Thursday.

Pierre Thomas rushed for 16 yards on seven carries and caught seven passes for 61 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's Week 16 overtime win against the Cowboys.