New Orleans Saints placed running back Reggie Bush on IR Wednesday, effectively ending his season.
Bush injured his left knee against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 19, and had arthroscopic surgery the next day to repair a torn meniscus. He missed four games for rehabilitation.
He returned to action against Tampa Bay on Nov. 30, but struggled and Coach Sean Payton reduced his playing time because of ineffectiveness.
Bush scored a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 7 and appeared to be back on track. But he suffered a setback against the Chicago Bears the next week and was benched in the second half, again because of ineffectiveness.
This news obviously elevates Pierre Thomas’s fantasy value ten-fold. Anyone fortunate enough to have him on their roster heading into their championship game this week should feel pretty good about his matchup with the Lions on Sunday.
One has to wonder about the long-term status of Bush in New Orleans. Thomas has been incredibly effective as the workhorse back for the Saints over the second half of the season and is clearly ready to take over Deuce McAllister’s role in Sean Payton’s offense next season. If Bush can’t stay healthy, there’s no way the Saints will re-up once his contract expires. No sense in overpaying for a back that can’t run between the tackles and misses games with various alignments.
John Paulsen and I discussed this topic on our weekly fantasy podcast chat (which will post sometime Thursday morning), so make sure to check it out.
