I've seen worse, but I would still expect better from a team in arguably the 3rd best conference in the FBS.
Yeah, blocking was poor but that gives me hope that despite the blocking he could still pick hole and be productive! Reminds me of Ricky a bit the way he hops and waits for the hole then one cut and use the 10 yrd split time, explode. Growing very excited about him.
Mostly because he can't make anyone miss, even in the open field. Granted the O-line didn't help him out at all, but that video is not inspiring. Oh well, we'll know if he can play or not rather quickly IMO.
Man that video wasn't so hot. Honestly lets take a look here for a second. Maybe it's me but he looks slow as hell getting to those holes, and the fact that in the NFL those holes are SMALLER and close faster than in college worries me. I can see ALOT and I mean ALOT of this kids runs ending in 1-2 yards or behind the line of scrimmage. Unless our offensive line turns into this monster smash mouth push you back 5 yards this kid isn't going to be anything special. I hate saying that because we need an upgrade I hated Ronnie's play style slow to the hole and Thomas looks like a younger Ronnie.. Personally I prefer a fast scat-back and one bruiser to mix it up in my rotations.
The more i watch him the more i realize he was worth the 2nd round pick. His blocking was poor in college. He seems to actually have more of a burst than people have been talking about.
A great video here Con, thanks. I was definitely adamantly against this pick - partly based on the player, and partly based on the trade up to get him. I felt we could have gotten similar value sitting in the third, or by making a smaller less costly move up if needed. Since watching him more, I still do not like the pick, but I do see potential in him. This video highlights a lot of both his strengths and weaknesses. Strengths - He is good inside runner, excellent cutback and lateral agility, gets to the line decently fast and is decisive. He mostly manages to pickup positive yardage despite having a fairly mediocre OL, and he falls forward for the extra yard. He also generally displays good hands as an outlet/checkdown receiver. Negatives - Slow to the edge, the Nebraska D (a very good one) consistently was able to beat him to the edge and force the play inside. Sometimes this was helped by the mediocre OL, but there were also plays where his relative lack of speed was evident. He also struggled in space quite a bit, where a defender can focus on him 1v1. He also seems to struggle getting low to the ground to shake off tacklers, another open space issue. The tall lean is helpful in falling forward in short yardage or crowded situations, but a liability in space. Though not showcased in this game, he needs to work on the ball security issue he had at KState. Blocking is another issue he will need to work hard on - if there is one issue that keeps rookie backs on the bench, this is a big one along with fumbles. Both can be coached, to varying degrees of success. Some predictions - if our line can open a decent hole and drive the defenders off the ball, Thomas could have great success running inside. He is a guy who can ride a lineman and then make a good move to sidestep a backer or other defender and pick up a good 10 yard run. On the other hand, I feel he will struggle in many of the same ways in the NFL as he did against Nebraska, where fast defenders can catch him in space and take him down. He doesn't seem like a guy who can threaten the edge and keep defenders on a broad front - they may be able to cheat to plug interior holes. I don't know if we will get big plays from him, but I think he can be good running inside and catching. As long as he gets positive yards he will be an upgrade over Ricky and Ronnie to this point. Hopefully he makes that trade up worth it.
This was obviously the lowlight video. where are the highlights? The play at 1:00 I think illustrates his lack of speed. It looked promising but the holes kind of closed up. He had one guy to beat but he didn't try to go to the outside instead went inside of the defender and next to his guy blocking someone else. Well that didn't work out too well.
Theres no way he 230 pounds in that video. His legs look so thin, and hes barely 6 ft tall. Im guessing he added 12-15 pounds of muscle since the offseason, no?
That was the proper read to make to play off of his blocker JD. I really like this pick, DT is a slasher with good hands and good power his style should translate to the NFL really well. The one thing I did not like was DT does not drop his shoulders and power into defenders really well, maybe a coaching issue, but he needs to learn how to do so in order to pick up an extra yd or two on some runs, the play you referenced he made the proper read, ran to the right of the blocker but then contacted the defender "high" if he had bent at the waist and driven his legs there were 3 more yds to be had on that play. Reminds me very much of Freeman McNeil and Curt Warner or a real old school name, Mike Rozier. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBeIEOQEiVM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJbSwFtAe70 I also think his running style means our crappy field early in the season will not be as much of an issue as it had been.
'' This is a special athlete'' ''I have not seen a man that size line up wide and do all the things this kid can do in a very long time'' Mayock quotes..
Yeah, this is a Running Back we are talking about here, not a Qb, like a boxer they can play and you know it quickly, or they cannot and you also know that quickly.
