Originally posted by Kolohe:
Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Originally posted by Kolohe:
Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Originally posted by Kolohe:
Originally posted by OnTheClock:
Originally posted by Ninefan56:
Now that the BCS game is about over, who are the players that improved their status and why, and who are those who dropped in their status and why? Also who would be players that we would look at?
Gainers:
DT Lamarr Houston - continued to play hard and was the one guy to consistently get pressure. Beat Mike Johnson badly several times early on.
WR Shipley - Even without their QB, has played extremely well. Two TDs.
CB Arenas - Sure he got beat once on the double-move, but never judge someone on one play. He had one bad play, the entire rest of the game he had/has been very good out there.
ILB McClain - solid all game long. A mistake being offsides, but that's about the only negative you can take from McClain tonight.
Losers:
S Earl Thomas - not physical enough, didn't make a peep in the game.
DT Terrance Cody - simply a situational player, falls deeper into the 2nd round.
SS Woodall - Blown coverages. Woodall may have to move to OLB in the Pro's.
Static (non-moving):
OLB Sergio Kindle - Did some good things, but not enough to really make any significant movement.
OG Mike Johnson - Got beat some early on, but bounce back with some outstanding blocks to even things out.
I wouldn't say "Loser", its not his fault Bama ran the ball 90% of the time with Ingram and Richardson, who Thomas made a nice open field tackle on 3rd and 2. And not physical enough, dude was throwing his body AT the RB's, he could be blamed for miss tackles, but not physical enough C'mon.
Same goes with Cody, Bama knew Texas would pass more so they went with more of a pass rushing front.
We saw two different things last night. Sure, Thomas is not at fault for the fact that Alabama didn't pass much, but it's going to take more than one good tackle in a game to make people believe you have first round talent. Thomas plays Strong Safety for Texas -- Other guys like T.J. Ward, Reshad Jones, Kam Chancellor, even Larry Asante and Kyle McCarthy consistently make noise in both facets of the game no matter what the run-pass ratio. As I said before, Thomas' "ballhawk" status and him getting a bunch of interceptions is not enough.
He lost ground as far as the "1st round" standard that many around here place on him. If he was expected to play like a 2nd rounder or later, that'd be totally different, and I would not classify him as one of the "Losers" of the game. Hope that makes sense.
As far as Cody, that absolutely proves my point. He can't play on every down, and he'll be virtually useless against most passing teams in the league, and in such a pass-happy league these days, would that not concern you? You don't want to spend a 1st on a situational player like that.
So let me get this straight, your going to base one game with an opposing QB passing for only 11 times. BTW Thomas had more than 1 tackle, went head to head with Ingram in the 2nd quarter. In that game and lined up at SS and FS, but due to his cover skills, IMO, he'll be a FS in the NFL.
Oh and BTW Thomas has the same amount of tackles than both TJ Ward and Kam Chancellor, but more solo tackles than Chancellor.
Kolohe! Ward and Chancellor are both 2nd and 3rd round prospects, respectively, and that's the thing -- that's exactly how I see Thomas (2nd, not 3rd, to be clear here). Even Kansas' Darrell Stuckey had 93 tackles, 3.5 TFL and a sack. I'm sure Thomas likely will be a FS when he comes to the NFL, but he should go back to school for one more year and with another good one, he'd probably vault himself into the late 1st to early 2nd.
Regardless of your's or anyone else's draft grades on here, you stated that the Safeties you mentioned make noise regardless of pass vs. run ratio, and that's why I compared the stats. But from the times I've seen him play hes made some pretty solid hits, and in no way would I judge him off this game. Its like after this one game you gave a full college career assessment on Earl Thomas, if you've ever done a scouting report on him in the past I apologize, but that's just the feeling I get.
BTW where did you get 5'9" from?? On the official UT site he's listed at 5'10", regardless he'll probably measure in at 5'9" and 3/8 at the Combine.
I automatically take an inch off, because there were virtually no players that measured "as high" or higher than their listed heights. Plus, just guesstimating, that's what he looks like too, so..
By the way, Thomas is entering the draft.... Canada has the news first.
http://www.tsn.ca/ncaa/story/?id=305322.
Thomas did the same thing last night that I've seen him do at various points during the season. I currently reside in Texas right in the heart of Longhorn nation, really, and get to see plenty of Earl Thomas. Thomas has been inconsistent in run support. It's not to say he can't get better or is terrible, he's just not fantastic. His lack of prototypical size does hurt him some as well, but thanks to his sensational coverage ability, field awareness, and hands, his stock is very high. He's simply stellar in that regard. But that's not enough for me to grade him a 1st, and as a result, all this put together is why he grades out to me as a early to middle 2nd rounder.
Make no mistake, Thomas is a very good player, but he's not perfect. I do not aim to take anything away from him, but in terms of talent, you know what I think. However, in terms of projecting where he'll go -- I think a team will indeed bite in the first, pending a horrific combine. In such a pass-oriented league, a player with his skills offers a slightly higher value now.
Just to add, a team who already has a great, run-stopping, big, heavy-hitting safety on their squad could certainly use Thomas as a nice complement to them.
[ Edited by OnTheClock on Jan 8, 2010 at 21:40:23 ]
Gotta look for happiness somewhere else.