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WR Michael "Cantguardmike" Thomas (B1G Champion, National Champion, Pro Bowl, All-Pro, 2019 OPOY, New Orleans Saints)

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MililaniBuckeye said:
He looked pretty fast here (42-second mark):

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I still wouldn't consider him a deep threat based on one play, nor would I consider blown coverage and DBs taking bad angles as having speed. OSU had more speed at the DB position than just about everyone we played last year and still got burned constantly. I still think Thomas is a possession WR, will he break some big plays at the collegiate level? Sure, so did his uncle who was also a possession WR. But he has few to no plays where he beats his man down field like Devin Smith. It's a not a knock being a possession WR, and that's honestly a great complement to our QBs.
 
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pnuts34 said:
I still wouldn't consider him a deep threat based on one play, nor would I consider blown coverage and DBs taking bad angles as having speed. OSU had more speed at the DB position than just about everyone we played last year and still got burned constantly. I still think Thomas is a possession WR, will he break some big plays at the collegiate level? Sure, so did his uncle who was also a possession WR. But he has few to no plays where he beats his man down field like Devin Smith. It's a not a knock being a possession WR, and that's honestly a great complement to our QBs.
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Elite speed is not the sole requirement to be a deep-ball threat, although it's a big part.
 
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pnuts34 said:
I still wouldn't consider him a deep threat based on one play, nor would I consider blown coverage and DBs taking bad angles as having speed. OSU had more speed at the DB position than just about everyone we played last year and still got burned constantly. I still think Thomas is a possession WR, will he break some big plays at the collegiate level? Sure, so did his uncle who was also a possession WR. But he has few to no plays where he beats his man down field like Devin Smith. It's a not a knock being a possession WR, and that's honestly a great complement to our QBs.
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Deep threats like Smith don't come around often, so to expect him to be Devin Smith would be hopeful IMO. I would find a middle ground between Possession WR and Deep Threat and call him that because I think he runs very good routes and has the speed to match. In the MSU game, he beat the corner inside on the slant and then he outran Kurtis Drummond, who is an NFL player and didn't really take that poor of an angle. In the Oregon and Wisconsin games, he made short catches and turned them into 20+ yd gains. Moreover, Thomas beat Maryland's top corner deep and had Oregon beat deep, but couldn't stay in bounds.

When I think possession receiver, I think of Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Jason Avant or Anquan Boldin who run quick, short routes, exclusively, because they don't have the speed to beat a defender deep and often get limited YAC due to their lack of speed. Thomas can absolutely be a deep threat, with his height, physicality, speed and strong hands. Anyway you characterize him, he is dangerous and one of the most talented WR we have had here in the last 10 years.

Plaxico Burress was a heck of a deep threat, just ask Antoine Winfield, and did not have elite speed.
 
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Jt4prez said:
Deep threats like Smith don't come around often, so to expect him to be Devin Smith would be hopeful IMO. I would find a middle ground between Possession WR and Deep Threat and call him that because I think he runs very good routes and has the speed to match. In the MSU game, he beat the corner inside on the slant and then he outran Kurtis Drummond, who is an NFL player and didn't really take that poor of an angle. In the Oregon and Wisconsin games, he made short catches and turned them into 20+ yd gains. Moreover, Thomas beat Maryland's top corner deep and had Oregon beat deep, but couldn't stay in bounds.

When I think possession receiver, I think of Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Jason Avant or Anquan Boldin who run quick, short routes, exclusively, because they don't have the speed to beat a defender deep and often get limited YAC due to their lack of speed. Thomas can absolutely be a deep threat, with his height, physicality, speed and strong hands. Anyway you characterize him, he is dangerous and one of the most talented WR we have had here in the last 10 years.

Plaxico Burress was a heck of a deep threat, just ask Antoine Winfield, and did not have elite speed.
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But Plaxico was still a possession WR, his route running made the difference, as did the guys you labeled as possession WRs, their route running stood out, as does Michael's but none could beat DBs, and neither does Michael. His short slant routes are run great and set him apart. Bad angles and blown coverages allow him big gains. Maryland and Oregon had average DBs and Mike exploited that'll and he will continue to do so in college. But regardless, like you said he is a dangerous WR who has height, physicality, strong hands and great route running, his speed is above average. And that's not a slight, as I can see Jalin Marshall being our deep threat on the outside, or even Johnnie Dixon. But at the end of the day, he still will be our best WR overall.
 
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What made Smith so great was that his initial 10 yard burst he was able to explode onto (yes, that's what she said) the DB's before they were even able to turn and run giving him a immediate cushion. Thomas however doesn't have that initial burst and while he's plenty fast once he gets going it does take him a second to get to that gear. In saying that what makes Thomas overall better IMO is he's got great hands, runs good enough routes, makes the tough catches, is very difficult to arm tackle, and of course his leaping ability at his height is great too. Last year he was our most consistent WR, and this next year he will be our most consistent WR and with another 800 yard campaign he could be headed for a high draft pick at next years Draft. He will not be our answer to replacing Devin on the deep ball though he just doesn't have that kind of suddenness to him.

Personally I'd love to see someone like McLaurin or even Gibson get a shot to fill Devin's spot because those two I feel have that initial burst.
 
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Thomas has good speed but Smith had such great speed that even though a DB knew he was going to run a fly route the majority of the time, they still got beat on it. But then again, Thomas is the type of receiver I have wanted here for a long time...great route running, amazing hands, has size, very good speed, great blocking, and he can play the ball so well in air. To say he is not a deep threat is a bit of a misnomer simply because he cannot be so easily defined. He is just a damned good receiver that can make a ton of plays in different ways. I think he is in for a MONSTER year in '15 though...no matter what QB we have in, they look for him for a reason.

As for a pure deep threat...Dontre, McLaurin, and Dixon will be able to stretch the field plenty I think.
 
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