The way I see it is, maybe he will be better at OLB then he was at DE, if not maybe we can teach him how to fill little paper cups with a cold colored liquid and hand them to real players.
The thing is, he is a big guy, and a big framed guy. Straight ahead 40 time speed is important but it does not necessarilyapply to Thomas. You probably could not put Freeney or Peppers at OLB because they are good at 1 thing, getting QBs. feel that the same is true for Thomas. Remember that he was drafted alot higher than he was projected to go because he had good combine number. His abilities to apply those timed and easured skills practically never developed and essentially we ended up with a perrennial backup. Sure, give him a sht at OLB but don't give him preference. I would play him against a team whose OT is injured or just plain weak and let him use his skils to try and burn him.
I don't think he ever hit 270, but if you remember he always had a problem keeping weight on and would often lose weight. He is naturally in the 250lb range. He probably played in the upper 260s. We can let his body take it's natural route and i'm sure he'll be more athletic. About playing DT at times, I think that's a stretch (I don't remember that, he was lucky to even play at times).
Ok since our 2nd best DE is Thomas and our 3rd best is "who knows?" ... I'm assuming we start Thomas at DE and Hobson/Chatham both start at linebacker (next to barton/vilma)
I figure right now our front 7 looks like this: DE: Ellis NT: DRob/Adams/Pouha DE: Kimo/Thomas OLB: Barton ILB: Chatham/Shlereth ILB: Vilma OLB: Hobson That's going into May minis. I have a feeling EVERYONE is showing up for any optional camps right now. There are so many positions up for grabs right now, if you miss out on a minute of camps, you will lose your job. I figure, right now, the only guys who can be pretty sure they will be on the field in Tennessee when Young takes his first NFL snap will be Vilma, Ellis, and Dyson.
You should have watched the games more closely last year. Thomas was plugged in at DT ALOT in each game, and held his own. He was playing at around 270 last year. Thomas's problem wasn't keeping on weight for no reason at all- in one case it was post-surgery, and in another case he had a psycho ex-gf making unsubstantiated claims of rape against him- surely enough to turn someone's stomach.
Dude theres absolutely no way Thomas can hold up at 3-4 DE. The defense will be DE-Kimo NT-DRob DE-Ellis OLB-Thomas ILB-Barton ILB-Vilma OLB-Hobson You can bet the farm on that
Exactly right. His problem was never getting weight on or off, it was that he was stressed out, and unhealthy. I still remember when he was arrested in LGA early in his career because of his psycho broad's claims. Since his life was straightened out, he has been decent. Herm didn't give him many chances, so we have no idea if he can bloom into a decent NFL lineman or backer.
I don't think so. He can play with weight. He is fast. He can probably play well as a 2 down end on this line. Where he may get the biggest chance is on STs.
The best 34 DEs are usually around a good 300 pounds. The best edge rushers themselves are around 265. Thats where Thomas fits in. If he did start hed get blown off the ball every time and you can bet that wed have at least one linebacker getting pancaked every player. 43 and 34 personnel are very different, you know, theyre not interchangeable.
My question is can Roberston play NT. When he was drafted, the talk was he specializes in a 4-3 DT technique or whatever it's called. Well, he turned out to be decent in that spot. If he can some how pull the transition off, that will make a huge difference in our defense.
