It's unwise to take too much out of a preseason game whether it's good or bad. What Friday did show is that Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson continue to pull away from Pierre Thomas, who did not make the trip Friday for unspecified reasons.
"Overall, we knew we would be splitting the better part of the half because Pierre (Thomas) was not going to play, and we end up doing it," Payton said.
Thomas by far outpaced Robinson and Ingram in snaps last season, taking 564 offensive snaps before missing the final two playoff games with a chest injury. Ingram, who missed five games with a toe injury, had 230 snaps. Robinson was inactive for six games and had no snaps in another, finishing with 91.
The story claims it has become apparent that Ingram and Robinson have moved ahead of Thomas, who has been listed with the third team on the unofficial depth charts. Thomas was reportedly on the trading block in the offseason before taking a paycut to return with the Saints. In camp, Thomas has started taking snaps with the second team in walkthroughs while Ingram and Robinson got the first team reps. It's hard to imagine Thomas wouldn't still have a role in the passing game but if this pans out it's a big drop in value, so it's something to monitor.
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