The San Francisco 49ers have signed running back Pierre Thomas, according to his agent, Lamont Smith. The move comes a day after the team signed free agent running back Shaun Draughn. Let those names sink in just a little bit.
The 49ers have had several big injuries to their running back depth chart, leaving it a shell of what it was Week 1. Carlos Hyde is dealing with a stress fracture in his foot, and was inactive in Week 8. There is no word yet on when he will be back. Reggie Bush suffered a knee injury that Adam Schefter is reporting to be a torn MCL. His season seems finished once he has surgery. Mike Davis suffered a hand injury that multiple reports have described as a fracture requiring surgery. It is entirely possible his season will be finished as well, although the 49ers could decide to just leave him as a weekly inactive for now.
The 49ers have not announced the move, but when they do, it will likely be in conjunction with Bush going on injured reserve. Once that is official, the 49ers running back Corps for this weekend against the Atlanta Falcons is looking like Thomas, Draughn and Kendall Gaskins. I am not entirely sure who gets the start in that group. Gaskins knows the playbook, so he might be the starter, but Thomas has solid veteran experience to quickly acclimate.
Whatever the case, this is not pretty.