2019 Season Countdown: #96 Charles Thomas

2019 Season Countdown: #96 Charles Thomas


May 22, 2019
Charles Thomas (image via MGoBlue)

Name: Charles Thomas
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 224 lbs.
High school: Oakdale (CT) St. Thomas More
Position: Linebacker
Class: Freshman
Jersey number: N/A
Last year: Thomas was a senior in high school (LINK). He made 49 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and a 44-yard punt return for a touchdown.
TTB Rating: N/A

Thomas is a tough prospect to pin down – figuratively and figuratively. (Not literally, because that would just be mean.) Not only has he attended three high schools – Langston Hughes in GA, IMG Academy in FL, and St. Thomas More in CT – but his highlights are a bit scattered. He’s listed on Michigan’s signing day info as being 5’11” and 224 lbs., even though those are often exaggerated, and he was listed as a recruit at 6’0″. So he’s probably 5’10”.

As for his play on the field, it doesn’t appear to be too impressive. He doesn’t show a lot of sideline-to-sideline speed, and his physicality is combined with less than stellar technique. He could be a thumping two-down middle linebacker, but those are a thing of the past. Can he improve his speed and coverage? If not, I’m afraid he’ll be playing from behind throughout his career. I expect him to redshirt while those things get sorted out.

Prediction: Redshirt

2 comments

  1. Comments: 6285
    Joined: 8/11/2015
    Lanknows
    May 22, 2019 at 1:11 PM

    Undersized guys tend to get underrated because of it. Like Devin Bush, who would have been a 5-star were it not for questions about his size.

    Obviously Thomas can’t be expected to be that good but a kid from Georgia who has moved around a bunch yet managed to get Oregon, Tennessee, and Clemson offers seems like an interesting prospect to me.

    I wouldn’t worry about the size part anymore than I would for Devin Bush. This is how the game has evolved. I see parallels to basketball on this. Trying to power run over people is falling into the trap — like somebody trying to post up on an undersized C or PF on a “smallball” lineup. Please go ahead – waste your offensive possessions on the low efficiency approach. It might work sometimes, but usually not, and if it does the defense can still adjust. How’d Wisconsin and MSU do trying to run it over our undersized LBs and mediocre DTs?

    This isn’t even really a new thing – people were saying this about Jimmy Johnson’s linebackers at Miami in the 80s.

    It’s hyperbole to say a 6′ LB is the prototype but I would say it’s normal and not worth getting worried about. Especially for anyone insisting on calling the Viper position a LB.

  2. Comments: 1863
    Joined: 1/19/2016
    je93
    May 22, 2019 at 9:54 PM

    There’s two sentences on height. A whole paragraph on speed, or lack of. That seems to be the concern here

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