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On Thomas

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Only thing I disagree with you about is that Thomas can become a 250 pound linebacker, at least in the NFL. Guy has an incredible frame for the position, and I expect he'll leave college around 240ish.

If he comes here, he's getting a lot of PT by game 6. Probably earlier.
 
Peter Ariz said:
jerzeycane said:
To be transparent, they are doing evaluations on a larger scale and are much more likely to succumb to snap judgments.

That's the reason why there's a special place for people like Tito, Cam, and yourself Pete. You can provide the in-depth evaluations that the National guys can't come close to. You have seen these guys up close and personal for most of their careers.
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this wasn't a national guy
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It was Ferman.
 
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Peter Ariz said:
This post has nothing to do with his recruitment, but more on him as a player.

We have discussed at length the type of talent he is, but I want to address something else. I was talking to somebody today who told me that certain "experts" out there who saw him at practice said that he is too small to be able to play right away. While he needs to and will add weight for college, that statement is so far from true. People who are making these assumptions based on seeing them in one practice are ridiculous. If they are saying that, then I can almost guarantee they've never watched him in a game.

I've had the chance to see Thomas play live against top Dade County competition 5-6 times over the past 2 years and to say he can't contribute early is ludicrous. He was the best player on the field every time I saw him and it wasn't even close. While he might be lacking a little something strength-wise right now, that's not what makes him the special player he is. He will never be a 250-lb linebacker because that's just not his game, but people need to realize that he's just a different breed. His explosiveness and wiry strength along with his ability to drop into coverage and also read-and-react is so advanced for somebody at the high school level, that he will be able to translate a lot of that to the next level right away no matter how much he weighs.

I see him playing next season at about 220 and that will be enough to make a big impact. I keep harping on this, but his versatility is flat out scary. I remember people saying Duke was not ready physically and he was too small, but legitimately special players make up for a lack of whatever they're missing and they make plays. Thomas is on that Duke-level of special.

Before these people make assessments based off of one practice, they might want to head to Traz Powell on a Friday night to see players in an actual game.
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Pete, we're either on exactly the same page of the same book or you're rippin' off my specific words, bruh?!

From an earlier, different thread yesterday:

No. He's not a guy whose effectiveness stems predominantly from power. One example of this was Willie Williams. People ask why his game never translated to being an impact guy. Besides the headcase issues, a lot of what made him a "wow" player in high school was the fact he mauled people. He was bigger and stronger.

Thomas is not a destroyer and doesn't really have those fierce hits you expect of a special LB. His game translates fantastically well because of its versatility. I think Thomas' frame will easily hold another 30-40 pounds, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's 220 next season. He can be 220 and everything that makes him special would still translate to the college game next year.


In all seriousness, let's just get Thomas on board...first and foremost.
 
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Check out the difference in facial expressions when talking about the different schools in this interview at the all star practices:

[video=youtube;5TKFRyzwI4k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5TKFRyzwI4k[/video]
 
how good is the kid in coverage? thats what we've been missing for a while now... a linebacker that can cover..
 
BigDikCane said:
how good is the kid in coverage? thats what we've been missing for a while now... a linebacker that can cover..
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He was a straight beast at the Nike 7on...best LB there. His long arms and fluid hips would make him our best cover LB by far on day 1. Him and Grace bring a new element.
 
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I refuse to believe that Golden will let this kid get out of Miami, Thomas is the type of talent that helps put you back on the national stage
 
moshated305 said:
Was just having this convo with some over on CS. They are convinced he is too small and that he should RS. Sounds great when you have an elite defense returning but we had the worse D in school history and people are talking about RS a kid who hasn't even graduated HS LOL We should be begging eery elite kid to come in here and give us anything. But I guess that's what I get for going over there to discuss anything. Same group said no way Duke does anything as a freshman at his size. They also wanted to shirt Bush this time last year.
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We didn't have the worst D in school history. We had the youngest D in school history. The youngsters on this defense are going to end up being another great Miami defense very soon.
 
Picksix said:
moshated305 said:
Was just having this convo with some over on CS. They are convinced he is too small and that he should RS. Sounds great when you have an elite defense returning but we had the worse D in school history and people are talking about RS a kid who hasn't even graduated HS LOL We should be begging eery elite kid to come in here and give us anything. But I guess that's what I get for going over there to discuss anything. Same group said no way Duke does anything as a freshman at his size. They also wanted to shirt Bush this time last year.
Click to expand...

We didn't have the worst D in school history. We had the youngest D in school history. The youngsters on this defense are going to end up being another great Miami defense very soon.
Click to expand...

We had both of these
 
Peter Ariz said:
This post has nothing to do with his recruitment, but more on him as a player.

We have discussed at length the type of talent he is, but I want to address something else. I was talking to somebody today who told me that certain "experts" out there who saw him at practice said that he is too small to be able to play right away. While he needs to and will add weight for college, that statement is so far from true. People who are making these assumptions based on seeing them in one practice are ridiculous. If they are saying that, then I can almost guarantee they've never watched him in a game.

I've had the chance to see Thomas play live against top Dade County competition 5-6 times over the past 2 years and to say he can't contribute early is ludicrous. He was the best player on the field every time I saw him and it wasn't even close. While he might be lacking a little something strength-wise right now, that's not what makes him the special player he is. He will never be a 250-lb linebacker because that's just not his game, but people need to realize that he's just a different breed. His explosiveness and wiry strength along with his ability to drop into coverage and also read-and-react is so advanced for somebody at the high school level, that he will be able to translate a lot of that to the next level right away no matter how much he weighs.

I see him playing next season at about 220 and that will be enough to make a big impact. I keep harping on this, but his versatility is flat out scary. I remember people saying Duke was not ready physically and he was too small, but legitimately special players make up for a lack of whatever they're missing and they make plays. Thomas is on that Duke-level of special.

Before these people make assessments based off of one practice, they might want to head to Traz Powell on a Friday night to see players in an actual game.
Click to expand...

Good post and it again teaches us the lesson that these "gurus" are nothing more than glorified message board trollers and don't offer much in terms of evaluation that you would get from here.

Are we expecting Matthew Thomas to play 50 plays per game on defense and start? Of course not - I think we'll all admit that he's not ready. Can he be a ST stalwart and play in key spots throughout the game? Defeinitely!
 
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FreePawn said:
Check out the difference in facial expressions when talking about the different schools in this interview at the all star practices:

[video=youtube;5TKFRyzwI4k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5TKFRyzwI4k[/video]
Click to expand...

am I the only one who saw how is face lights up when he was talking about Miami and coach Golden? I think if he switches his jan 18 OV from USC to Miami that would be huge in terms of us getting him
 
LexCane55 said:
Picksix said:
moshated305 said:
Was just having this convo with some over on CS. They are convinced he is too small and that he should RS. Sounds great when you have an elite defense returning but we had the worse D in school history and people are talking about RS a kid who hasn't even graduated HS LOL We should be begging eery elite kid to come in here and give us anything. But I guess that's what I get for going over there to discuss anything. Same group said no way Duke does anything as a freshman at his size. They also wanted to shirt Bush this time last year.
Click to expand...

We didn't have the worst D in school history. We had the youngest D in school history. The youngsters on this defense are going to end up being another great Miami defense very soon.
Click to expand...

We had both of these
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I choose not to be so negative. I understand that Rome wasn't built in a day. I also remember watching Ed Reed and Dan Morgan defenses take their lumps back in the day and they turned out ok. Maybe our fans had unrealistic expectations? Maybe the defense was better than those stats show considering the youth on the two deep? Having 22 true Sophomores or younger in the two deep is unheard of. Miami won their division with a JV defense playing against Varsity offenses.

The future is very bright on defense.
 
These are the same "experts" who saw Bond's and Figueroa's highlight videos and said that they were only worthy of 2 stars?

Says a lot about their judgement.
 
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BigDikCane said:
how good is the kid in coverage? thats what we've been missing for a while now... a linebacker that can cover..
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Yep. He's the missing piece to a potentially dominant defense, assuming we can generate a pass rush.
 
Could someone please go burn down the giant Alabama billboard that just went up above the Booker T field? Thanks.
 
bomb said:
Could someone please go burn down the giant Alabama billboard that just went up above the Booker T field? Thanks.
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I'm sure there are some boys down there not opposed to an early January Bon-fire lol
 
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