Originally posted by genus49:
I think Thomas can still play well inside but what made him so good was his athletic ability vs guards/centers. On the outside he's not big enough or fast enough to have much impact vs the OTs who are used to playing vs much better edge rushers but I do think his development inside was hurt by his snaps on the outside.
Fishing again. He's certainly big enough and he's certainly fast enough,...go back and watch his combine. He's just not good enough. The answers are the same they've been all along. People just sometimes refuse to accept them due to where he was drafted.
Pre-Draft outlook from a retired defensive end:
Solomon Thomas is the most frustrating prospect I've broken down in four years of doing this for SB Nation. There's not just one thing that is frustrating about him. There are a multitude of things.
Where's the effort?
First, he runs hot and cold with his effort. Part of that is reflected in how Thomas doesn't always finish plays. Y'all already know how I feel about guys who don't finish.
I swear this guy has some of the most embarrassing lack-of-effort plays that I've ever seen. It would be different if he was getting Aaron Donald-type production, but you can't be walking on the film like this when you only have 4.5 sacks and two pressures in five games, Solomon Christopher Thomas.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8320945/Solomon_NC_9_24.gif)
Oh hell nawl, that just won't do!
When hand size does matter.
Another thing that is irritating about watching Thomas' film is that he actually should have had more than just 4.5 sacks and two pressures in five games. He was damn sure in position to notch more than that.
But, this guy would seemingly find new ways to leave plays on the field in each game that I watched.
He would whiff when trying to tackle the quarterback after cleanly beating the offensive lineman, sometimes more than one, with a good move.
He would have his hands on the quarterback and his hands were either too small or too weak to hang on.
After my first watch of Thomas' tape, about three games in, I texted a friend of mine and said that either Thomas' hands are small or he has a very weak handshake because whether it was missing sacks because the quarterback would break free of his clutches or missing tackles on running backs who did the same. https://youtu.be/eH66vhTk45g?t=7m22s
There were just several times where Thomas got his hands on the guy with the ball but couldn't bring them to the ground. https://youtu.be/Sfxiaw-ngTo?t=5m32s
Some of those missed tackles would have been big plays, sacks, tackles for a loss, or tackles to prevent a third down conversion.
I went back to look at Thomas' hand measurements after watching his tape to see if I was right about them being small. Wouldn't you know it, his hands measured in at 9 and 3/8 inches. For context, that would have placed him in the bottom 10 of the 59 defensive linemen at the combine.
This is one of those times where it actually showed up on tape.
A gifted athlete, but ...My third issue with watching Thomas' tape is that as I was looking for his hand size I happened to notice the rest of Thomas' measurables from the combine.
He is 6'2.5 tall, 273 pounds — similar measurements to Jonathan Allen, Myles Garrett, and Derrick Barnett. Here's where it gets interesting.
Thomas ran a 4.71 in the 40 at the combine.
He had 30 reps on the bench.
Thomas jumped 35 inches in the air for his vertical.
His broad jump was 10.6 feet.
He turned in a three-cone time of 6.98 seconds.
His short shuttle was a smoking 4.28 seconds, a top-four time among the defensive line group at the combine.
This dude is physically gifted, and he checks off the boxes in just about every category you could want when it comes to measurables. Maybe you might want him to be just a tad bit taller, but hell, that would be nitpicking.
Thomas' combination of size and athletic ability means that he should have a lot of position versatility as well as scheme versatility. He played anywhere from zero nose to a wide five on the left side in the tape that I watched, and he flashed at damn near every possible spot.
But man, to be so talented and physically gifted, I would expect a lot more than just flashing now and then. Unfortunately, Thomas evidently doesn't give a f*** about my feelings on the subject.
....I could make you a reel with just his highlights and have you convinced that he should be the top pick overall.
That's just how impressive some of his better plays are.
But his bad plays ...
Plays with the s**tty effort ... https://youtu.be/9_kfbI-2oHk?t=7m20s
Plays when he misses the tackle ... https://youtu.be/zNN3MtfGUns?t=4m17s
Plays when he shuts it down while being in position to perhaps still make a play ... https://youtu.be/SUseQnUGd8o?t=4m50s
Plays where he gets pancaked ...
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8321009/Solomon_UW_8_18.gif)
Those plays make you wonder if he's going to be a bust or not.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8321027/Solomon_UCLA_9_23.gif)
.....He was literally walking while the play was going on. That kinda s**t just drives me up a damn wall. Let me say again: Thomas ain't that good to be able to loaf that much, great combine performance or not.
That kind of a lack of effort from anybody is appalling to me and probably to anybody who ever played for Larry Lacewell, Larry Marmie, John Chavis, or Rod Marinelli. But it's especially galling coming from a guy like Thomas because you can find other plays where he is hauling ass. https://youtu.be/Sfxiaw-ngTo?t=4m26s
That shows Thomas knows what kind of effort he is supposed to give on every play; he just doesn't do it.
Again,...this was
BEFORE the draft. Notice that there's nothing about too many snaps inside instead of outside or whatever. That just doesnt make any bit of sense and is placing blame elsewhere. The writing was on the wall, but perhaps staffs get cocky in thinking they can fix what's broken right there on film.
The stuff again raises a critical question, as he's now a multi-millionaire: How much does he even like football? How much does he even want to be a great player? Pics with Aaron Donald over the offseason doesn't tell me.
Alot of guys are good at football,....but only a limited number of them are football players.
[ Edited by random49er on May 20, 2020 at 9:03 AM ]
That explains a lot.
