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HIGH SCHOOL
Thomas attended Alliance (OH) Marlington and committed to Michigan in September of 2011 (LINK) as a part of the 2013 class. I ended up giving him a TTB Rating of 89 (LINK). I really didn’t put together much of a scouting report on him, because he committed early, before much film surfaced on him playing defense. As Marlington’s best athlete, they basically played him at middle linebacker, allowing him to make plays all over the field. He was also an outstanding running back.
Hit the jump for more.
COLLEGE
Despite playing middle linebacker in high school, Michigan took him and tried him out at cornerback as a true freshman. He made a splash with a blocked punt in the 2013 season-opener that was returned for a touchdown by Joe Reynolds. After that . . . nothing. Thomas played in just three games that year. He played in nickel situations and on special teams in 2014 and ended the year with 27 tackles. As a junior in 2015, he became a part-time starter, making 24 tackles and 7 pass breakups. Once Jarrod Wilson graduated, that opened things up for Thomas to become a full-time starter, which he did in 2016. Starting at free safety, he increased his production to 70 tackles, 9 pass breakups, and 1 interception.
CAREER STATS
128 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 16 pass breakups, 1 interception (for 4 yards), 1 blocked punt
1 kickoff return for 28 yards
1 punt return for 9 yards
AWARDS
All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (2016)
SUMMARY
Thomas should have redshirted in 2014. Sometimes kids play early because they were promised things during the recruiting process, or sometimes they need to because of the depth chart or injuries. Whatever the reason, Thomas needed a redshirt and didn’t take it. He has always been a good athlete, but the game was moving too fast for him, and he was moving from middle linebacker in high school to nickel corner, corner, or safety in college. That doesn’t happen overnight. Even up through the first half of the 2016 season, I didn’t think he had adjusted well to the safety position. But by the second half of his junior year, things seemed to click, and in the 2016 spring game, he made a beautiful interception of Shane Morris after running from center field to the corner of the end zone. He wasn’t mistake-free in 2016, but he was a reliable tackler and mostly solid in coverage. Michigan fans would be a lot more comfortable with the defensive back situation in 2017 if Thomas were returning to man the back end of the defense with Tyree Kinnel.
I WILL REMEMBER HIM FOR . . .
. . . Brady Hoke burning his redshirt. That move particularly stuck in my craw because I have what has become a well documented disdain for moving players farther away from the line of scrimmage on defense. Certain guys can make the transition – and I did believe that Thomas was athletic enough to do it – but they need time to make the mental adjustment. Thomas wasn’t afforded that time, and I think it hurt the program in multiple ways.
PROJECTION
Thomas wasn’t invited to the Combine, so he had to settle for the pro day. He put up decent numbers with a 4.5 forty, a 32.5″ vertical, a 9’10” broad jump, and a 4.4 shuttle (LINK). I don’t think those numbers will be enough to get him drafted, but they did reportedly open up some eyes, so maybe he’ll slip into the final round or so. If nothing else, he will almost certainly be a highly coveted undrafted free agent. He doesn’t have great ball skills, but I think he can hang around at the next level for a few years.
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Good athlete, seemed a bit raw during his Michigan career, I will remember him for his game against Indiana (or maybe Maryland) he was wrecking fools in that game.
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This burned redshirt was baffling. I remember being completely unable to understand Hoke’s redshirt policy (if he had one). We could really use a veteran safety this year.
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You ranked Thomas #33 heading into his freshman season. Maybe Brady Hoke thought something similar.
Even after his freshman year he was considered a top option to start at safety – indeed, he and Hill would split snaps there the next 2 years.
So:
a) made contributions as a freshman
b) started as a sophomore
Thomas is the kind of guy who makes the notion of a “burned redshirt” seem ridiculous. Thomas didn’t sit on the bench to save himself for 4 years later because he was ready to contribute and he was expected to be a critical piece his freshman year. Same reason Jarrod Wilson played his freshman year. Dylan Crawford played his. Etc. Etc. Etc.
If you recruit a bunch more guys to a position than you need you can afford to have overqualified backups that will keep talented freshman on the bench. If you don’t, the freshman are gonna play.
The view of Redshirting as the de facto Plan A is one of those antiquated things that will diminish over time. Sometimes there’s crusty sorts stuck on old ideas. Sometimes I’m one of them, but not on this topic.
A red-shirt is a first-year failure and in the modern game indicates a lack of preparation — not at all something to aspire to. It’s a good strategy if you can’t recruit competitively.
Thomas had a very good career and was a starter on 2 elite defenses. Dude has an 8 minute highlight video on youtube of just his 2016 season. I feel a little sorry for anyone who is stuck on the idea that he should have sat on a bench four years ago after such a fruitful career at Michigan.
As for his NFL prospects – I’m amazed Thomas isn’t getting more attention. I think that, unlike the NBA – where it plays a big factor, the NFL forgets to consider differences in age. You see this evident in some of the criticisms of Peppers – who is 2 or even 3 years younger than some of the people he’s getting compared against. If you aren’t willing to develop players that is fine, but most rookies require some degree of it.
Anyway, I agree with Thunder that Thomas will be a quality prospect as an undrafted free agent. While he isn’t an especially instinctual player the athleticism is there – the rest can be learned. It would not surprise me a bit if Thomas is playing in the NFL 5 years from now.
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I’m going to bet nobody here was wishing Thomas was sitting on the bench during this play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jn5WT2mDvU
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I think you’re wrong. That play wasn’t needed in order to win the game. Yes, it was a nice play, but if he were redshirting, some guy playing in his spot might have been able to block that punt, too.
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Needed? No – but that’s hindsight.
Maybe some dude who red-shirted makes a similar play to beat App State or Toledo.
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Maybe that’s true, but that’s why you look at these things on a case-by-case basis. In my opinion, Thomas didn’t help the team – or himself – very much by playing in 2013. If you want to go back to the freshmen who redshirted in 2007 or 2008 and look at the Appalachian State or Toledo games looking for a potential inefficiency, go for it.
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Hindsight is hindsight. You can apply it however you want. You’re not really disputing the main arguments which are:
At the time – Thomas was expected to be an impact player (by fans and, presumably, by coaches).
The following season – Thomas was a starter, presumably aided by playing his freshman year.
Maybe the improvement is not worth the potential 5th year to you and maybe it is. Maybe you’re willing to take fewer recruits and inferior recruits in order to support more red-shirting. All of this is a hypothetical on a “case by case basis”. In Thomas’ case there is plenty of production to offset the hypothetical.
In aggregate, it is hard to argue that red-shirting freshman is preferable to not when the best players don’t.
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It’s a career retrospective; by nature, much of it is going to be hindsight.
At the time, Thomas wasn’t ready to play. He didn’t establish himself by his sophomore year as being better than Hill/Clark.
No, the best players often don’t redshirt, but Thomas is looked at as a late round pick or UDFA. So is he one of “the best players”? Apparently not. He’s the type of guy who could have used some extra seasoning. Jeremy Clark is another example of a guy who also wasn’t ready to play early, but who rounded into form later in his career (2015, 2016).
I think it would have been beneficial for Thomas to have that extra year. You don’t? Fine.
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You don’t have to second-guess a ‘red-shirt decision’ as part of a career retrospective, you can just accept that the ‘decision’ was made at the time (as you would with anyone who WAS red-shirted).
In many cases it’s not really a decision at all, so much as it’s this guy plays or he doesn’t regardless of eligibility.
You certainly don’t have to do to second guess this with a highly productive player.
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Thomas blocked a kick that led to a touchdown. So, clearly, he was ready to play and contribute to the team in some fashion. And he did.
Thomas was an all conference player – so yes he is one of the better players.
Every individual is better with more seasoning. But every team is not better by systematically sitting players out, taking fewer scholarships, making their school less attractive to recruits, etc.
What’s best for the individual isn’t necessarily what’s best for the team. For all we know Thomas would have turned pro anyway – as other undrafted players have.
Of course, any sane fan would love to have Thomas back for a 5th year but it’s not remotely a one-for-one tradeoff between a 5th year version of Thomas and a 1st year version of Thomas. That’s a gross oversimplificaton that ignores math, logic, differences in development, etc. If someone wants to pretend that that’s all there is too it… well then, as you put it – “fine.”
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The question is: Did playing in three games on defense as a freshman prepare him for his sophomore year more than redshirting would? I don’t think he got significantly better as a sophomore, and it wasn’t until the second half of his junior year that he really made strides. Redshirting might be antiquated a bit, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be an option. Maybe his snaps in 2013 and 2014 could have been taken by Jeremy Clark, Josh Furman, etc.
Kekoa Crawford played as a freshman, but he was deemed to be a potential starter in 2017 (and looks like a front-runner to do so). While I might have pegged Thomas as the #33 most important player that year, it turns out that he wasn’t that good. I have an excuse – I didn’t see him in practice. The coaching staff did, and they should have known that he was in over his head.
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I don’t think that’s the only question. But I think the answer to this one is clearly yes. Maybe a little or maybe a lot, but some – yes.
Nobody is saying it shouldn’t be an option to red-shirt. I am saying it shouldn’t be fetishized as an optimal strategy any longer. It’s not a missed opportunity everytime somebody plays their freshman year and makes marginal contributions.
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Thomas started as a sophomore.
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Thomas started three games as a sophomore. Jarrod Wilson started ten. Jeremy Clark started six. Delano Hill started five. Like I said, I don’t know that Thomas’s playing time in 2013 helped very much – he was #4 in starting assignments at safety. Could he have made 27 tackles and three starts as a redshirt freshman that year? It’s not that far-fetched.
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It’s also not far fetched that he would have blown some assignments because of lack of game experience, perhaps in critical moments.
You’re arguing a hypothetical better world when reality turned out pretty damn good.
It is possible things could have worked out better – sure. That’s almost always going to be the case. For that to be the defining memory of an all conference (honorable mention) player and a key cog in an elite defense is to me a little bit sad. But of course you are entitled to have as negative of a memory as you want.
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I think you know very well that the coaching staff doesn’t have all the answers come the first week of September. It’s easier to say this or that happened in hindsight. It’s impossible to know in advance what injuries will happen or which guys won’t pan out like they hope or expect.
So, at a minimum, you have to couch these sort of critiques; “with the benefit of hindsight”.
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I hope you were being a little sarcastic there thunder in respect to, “Redshirting might be antiquated.” I say this because I agree largely with your stance in this case and on RSing, overall unless it is so damn obvious that only luck or, sadly, an injury might cause them to still be here is what would be their senior years.
I believe it was Luginbill, in speaking about the Spartans, who said, “What jumped off the paper to me was just how many of these players had the letters, RS beside their name.” As I think you pointed out, this is the easiest way to build a strong program if you are forced to take lesser (do not read bad into that, but instead those who need to develop, and yes, those who might be a little less skilled) players in order to have the time to coach them up to maximize their abilities.
No one knows better than Harbaugh that he inherited a “non-Michigan” like roster when he took over. He had no viable qb and -thank you Greg Mattison – we had a solid D, our OL, despite how highly ranked they came in, probably represent the highest ranked, least productive OL class in M history. We saw some precedents being set, OLmen playing as true freshmen, i.e., Cole and being the best of the unit the moment he stepped on the field. Since him, there have been at least two others who have played as freshmen and Ruiz could well do the same this year. This is one of the reasons I pay absolutely no intention to those that want to bitch about M not beating OSU in two chances, winning the league, making the CFP, etc. Conversely, I am quite impressed with the job he, his staff, and yes the players have done in progressing so much so rapidly. How many freshmen OLmen did OSU play in that period? How many grad transfers did they accept and play at QB during that period? We all know the answers are 0 and we know such is not the case for Michigan.
Part of the reason I was so excited about possibly getting Milton was based on a probable RS, and with McCaffrey more-than-likely doing the same this season, so too will all those above him on the DC. That is why I said it’s an ideal situation for him because you want your qb to be the most confident young man on that field and giving him as much time as possible to become that is a luxury. I also think that is a reason we could surprise this season is because even the abbreviated ’14 class surpassed all expectations as to contributing as too have the two that followed. There will be a significant number of players on the roster who will have been around Harbaugh’s program for three seasons now and expect many players whose names you have never heard called to contribute greatly this season, due both to the RSing and the fact that when you are around one of the true greats of the game, and he is that, without thought you become a better player because without realizing it, you practice exactly what he preaches and 2017 is Harbaugh’s team and I’m damn excited about it. Hopefully, after this recruiting class, we won’t have to play freshmen OLmen in the future. It’s a very complex position that takes so many more hours than any other to come close to playing at the “Michigan level,” but I’ll be damned if I didn’t see them run an old Michigan play that was probably used when Harbaugh was playing here to perfection in the spring game and Ty was basically untouched going into the end zone. Lanknows, I know you’re a fan and a good one, but imo Thunder is correct on this. If a young man isn’t going to play substantially, and three games does not qualify as such imo, then hell yes, RS him, let him soak up as much practice as possible, build confidence by building technique without pressure so it lessens when the whistle blows. That equates to depth and experience this year.
Bo, now and then, would field almost a completely new team, with tremendous success, due to having mostly seniors – prior to three and money – start the year before. Although much of it had to do with the Big Two, Little Eight at that time, it also had to do with these young men pushing that group of seniors to the limit every day in practice because they had so many reps and simulated game time situations that when it did occur their assignments were second nature. Based on Thunder’s argument in this particular case, I believe were the numbers games. That should always be considered and I don’t know if you supplied the answer he was looking for as of yet. As stated above, I respect both your football knowledge and enthusiasm and that is why I think your quote following has merit: “Nobody is saying it shouldn’t be an option to red-shirt. I am saying it shouldn’t be fetishized as an optimal strategy any longer. It’s not a missed opportunity everytime somebody plays their freshman year and makes marginal contributions.” Could not agree more(Braylon fine example) they have to be looked at differently today than in days gone by. However, the same determinant is used to see which way you go; that being “Will he be a much improved player in his actual second year of live football with or without the RS? I say they have to be looked at differently because, as was almost always the case among the major powers, with the large percentage RSing, with those who didn’t, Messner – 4 time All-Conference, A.C. three time AA being quite obvious such as Gary, Peppers, Hart and a few others- they are a rare breed. We used a lot of true freshmen because we needed depth on the field and because they were talented enough. With more elite players being recruited and with the three year option the question will be “What is the likelihood of him being around in three years?” that’s based on the talent of the individual, of course. However, the other will be, no matter if he could start at another school, “Is he going to offer us an advantage by playing STs because he’s not capable of playing as well as the man in front of him and Harbaugh is never going to make a judgement of that nature without thinking of the overall welfare of the team. Some of the players will opt for the draft regardless, and there is the merit in your argument. Others though, and I’ll just take the seniors this year, O’korn, Isaac(different reasons for RSing), Poggi and Hill, Kugler, Hurst and McCray are all going to be better off by returning. Hill is slimmer and faster and Poggi is knocking the hell out of everyone. Hurst came back for that specific reason. And look around. Look at Bama and Clemson. The players know their draft stock is going to be higher the longer they are in those systems. Look at how many Michigan is sending to the league in Harbaugh’s second season. Michigan will soon join that level, so imo, there will, in a large pct of cases, be reason enough to do so and they’ll gladly stay.
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interesting comments.
you mention thomas is an athletic guy however not the most instinctual player…agreed. you also mention the rest can be learned…do not agree. sure, plenty of athletes become more instinctual over time and develop other areas of their game. its absolutely possible to develop in that manner, happens all the time. but its not a given. instincts are tricky…and while vital at all positions, instinct can count for more in some spots, help better compensate for weaknesses, allow for greater competitive advantage, etc. sometimes you either have it or you dont, or have the ability to develop them or not, at least incrementally.
maybe thomas will improve in that area…hes almost guaranteed to improve at least somewhat (provided he puts in the time, finds himself decent situation, etc) but who knows if its enough to be noticeable or truly impact his production / performance at that level.
noticing tendencies, route or formation recognition, picking up and playing cues, etc via film work and other avenues and drilling down technique via endless repetition – it all helps players elevate their games and they may appear more instinctual on film but there are aspects which cannot be acquired / learned / developed, or at least certain relative levels, and not all athletes are not capable. just my opinion
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I think you have a valid argument and agree it’s no given. I do think (as you argue) that you can teach decision-making and reads to improve on ‘instincts’. So it’s a matter of how much ground there is to make up.
I think Thomas is closer to having it than not. There are some guys who just because of physical limitations will never be NFL players, no matter how instinctual they are. That isn’t Thomas. How much he can improve is a blind-ass guess though.
I think his deficiencies can be improved on a way that say Stribling’s speed can not. Of course we can measure speed with a 40 time but we can’t measure ‘instincts’. I do think that playing for 3 different DCs and several different DB coaches probably didn’t put him in ideal circumstances.
To me this is an interesting question. If you’re an NFL team comparing to fringe late-round candidates would you rather have a guy who was an elite performer with physical limitations (Stribling) or a guy who has the measureables but wasn’t quite as good of a player at the college level (Thomas)? Usually the NFL will pick the latter, but of course it’s a matter of degree and you make those decisions on a case-by-case basis.
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agreed, well said.
and its no doubt a matter of degree and taken case by case.
most personnel people / teams do tend to roll with potential vs athletic limitations if its up for debate.
should be interesting to watch stribling and thomas though (actually itll be fun to follow most of this michigan draft class…all solid dudes and some interesting stories, a dozen or so talented guys with only a handful currently projected to earn 2nd or 3rd nfl contracts)
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I also agree that Thomas might have been better off in a Viper-like role than as a true safety. Michigan really didn’t recruit enough safeties in recent years and recruited too many bigger LBs. If they had a few more Jarrod Wilson’s and a few less Joe Bolden’s perhaps Thomas would have been a bigger star and high draftpick.
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Agree that Thomas was not ready to play as a frosh, but the kid did enroll early. Perhaps promises were made. 2013 was the year Hoke lost the team and wound up playing multiple FR who were not ready (especially Taco).
Not too torn up about it in this case though. In the end, 4.5 years is enough. Ready to move on. Have a feeling Metellus and Kinnel are just better players.
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