Saturday, March 27, 2010
Player Spotlight: Earl Thomas
10:41 PM | 
Posted by
Eric
Since Earl Thomas will be coming to Cincinnati for a visit on April 1st and there's a decent chance that he could be the 1st round pick for our Bengals, it's time to do a player spotlight on him. I'd say Thomas or Mays is the most wanted pick for Bengals Nation, with Gresham coming in third. Thomas is the guy I want the most out of those we have a realistic shot at getting. I just think what he brings to the table with his coverage skills and ability to step up and support the run he would be an asset to our defense that will keep them in the top 5.
Thomas' scouting report has a lot of positives. He has fluid hips both in his backpedal and turning to run. He has good balance while turning and excellent body control. Although on the shorter side he has an excellent vertical, times his leaps well and goes up and gets the ball. His ball skills are arguably the best in this draft, the argument would be between him and Berry. He has good hands like a WR and when he gets his hands on the ball makes the pick. His instincts are a strength, he recognizes routes very quickly and gets a good jump on them. Putting himself in position to use those good hands to make the pick. He is versatile which Mike Zimmer will love, besides being able to play zone and cover man to man, he can play either Safety or Cornerback. He has great range and can cover a large portion of the field. If he does happen to get beat he has excellent recovery speed. Basically against the pass he can do it all.
Although some consider Thomas undersized he is also very good against the run. Thomas is a sure tackler. He doesn't mind taking on larger blockers and has good lateral pursuit. He always takes good angles unlike another unnamed Safety. His bigger strength is against the outside run.
Some negatives on Thomas is that he is somewhat undersized, and inside against the run he gets manhandled by Guards and Centers. I have heard the argument that he only had 1 great year and 1 decent year. My response to that is how many years do they play in the NCAA? Most players don't start as a freshman and some don't even see the field. Sophomores usually see limited playing time, he started every game he played for 3 seasons for a loaded Texas program and 2 out of 3 years had a good and great season. Then last season he had a phenomenal season. Other than the size knock the only other negative I've seen reported on him is he plays out of control, but of all the footage I've watched on him I haven't really seen that.
Thomas was 2nd on the Texas defense last season in tackles and first in interceptions. He had 8 picks and 24 passes defended, in 13 games that is an almost unheard of amount of both. He's the kind of player I loved watching film on. He flies around the field making play after play on defense. Also he has a very high ceiling, I don't think he's even hit his full potential yet and with added years of experience is going to be even better. His football intelligence is very high and it's reported he has good work ethic. I could easily see him becoming an all-pro Safety and honestly I hope he's the Bengals pick come April 22nd.
Thomas' scouting report has a lot of positives. He has fluid hips both in his backpedal and turning to run. He has good balance while turning and excellent body control. Although on the shorter side he has an excellent vertical, times his leaps well and goes up and gets the ball. His ball skills are arguably the best in this draft, the argument would be between him and Berry. He has good hands like a WR and when he gets his hands on the ball makes the pick. His instincts are a strength, he recognizes routes very quickly and gets a good jump on them. Putting himself in position to use those good hands to make the pick. He is versatile which Mike Zimmer will love, besides being able to play zone and cover man to man, he can play either Safety or Cornerback. He has great range and can cover a large portion of the field. If he does happen to get beat he has excellent recovery speed. Basically against the pass he can do it all.
Although some consider Thomas undersized he is also very good against the run. Thomas is a sure tackler. He doesn't mind taking on larger blockers and has good lateral pursuit. He always takes good angles unlike another unnamed Safety. His bigger strength is against the outside run.
Some negatives on Thomas is that he is somewhat undersized, and inside against the run he gets manhandled by Guards and Centers. I have heard the argument that he only had 1 great year and 1 decent year. My response to that is how many years do they play in the NCAA? Most players don't start as a freshman and some don't even see the field. Sophomores usually see limited playing time, he started every game he played for 3 seasons for a loaded Texas program and 2 out of 3 years had a good and great season. Then last season he had a phenomenal season. Other than the size knock the only other negative I've seen reported on him is he plays out of control, but of all the footage I've watched on him I haven't really seen that.
Thomas was 2nd on the Texas defense last season in tackles and first in interceptions. He had 8 picks and 24 passes defended, in 13 games that is an almost unheard of amount of both. He's the kind of player I loved watching film on. He flies around the field making play after play on defense. Also he has a very high ceiling, I don't think he's even hit his full potential yet and with added years of experience is going to be even better. His football intelligence is very high and it's reported he has good work ethic. I could easily see him becoming an all-pro Safety and honestly I hope he's the Bengals pick come April 22nd.
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