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He's Wendell Bryant with a wig. I'm not doom and gloom at all, I just think he is more in the mold of Gallery not Pace. I may be dead wrong and if I am I will be the first to admit it.
My point is that you can be the most athletic big man in the world but if you don't play with at least the same fire as the guy you are lining up against you will get abused.
Reasons for not wanting to draft Thomas:
1) Not sold on his toughness
2) Don't want to feel like we traded LD and the #5 pick for Thomas
3) Doesn't fit into Whis mold
I don't know much about the guy but if he is indeed a finesse type of OT then I am not too excited about him. Seems like we have enough of those types on the roster now. I would prefer to draft an OT with a bit of nastiness/brute to his character if there is one out there with some potential.
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I don't know much about the guy but if he is indeed a finesse type of OT then I am not too excited about him. Seems like we have enough of those types on the roster now. I would prefer to draft an OT with a bit of nastiness/brute to his character if there is one out there with some potential.
Being technically sound and looking good holding down your side =/= being a finesse blocker.
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Fitzgerald makes memorable plays so routinely that they stop being so memorable. - Mike Sando
I want Thomas, I like Thomas, I think he'll be our long term answer at LT if we were lucky enough to draft him. I just have a terrible feeling he won't be there and the team will panic.
[quote=JeffGollin;1312475]Happens every year. Draft folk tend to eat their young.
If I were to profile the "Draft folk" you are referring to
They would give their first born for Thomas
They think Graves is an idiot..Bidwill is cheap
They never would have wanted Norm Chow as coach because he has no experience
They think that KW will run the ball 90% of the time and our WR will stand around and watch
They think Gandy sucks yet most of them think they signed the "other" Gandy
They never expected us to sign any F/A and the F/A pool was "loaded" with all pro's that we missed (Oh by the way, see what Samuel is doing to the Pats. Wait and see how some of the Cowboys are going to react when their turn comes up and they want some of that LD money)
They think LD is going to be an all pro something in Dallas as he will miraculously learn the game after 6 years.
Oh, well, I guess I'm one of those "Draft folk". BUT
I would not give my firstborn for Thomas--but $25.00, yes, I would give that to charity if it would influence the football powers to let us draft Thomas.
No opinion about Chow--I'm glad we got KW.
No, not 90%--but maybe 70.
Who's this Gandy? We signed Candy--John Candy, right?
The others in lobo's list are all obvious truths, so I won't comment.
I myself have high hopes about signing Thomas and his NFL career, and think the second is a better bet than the first.
Being technically sound and looking good holding down your side =/= being a finesse blocker.
That's pretty basic stuff though isn't it? A brute of an OT can still be technically sound and hold down his side of the line. We need some nastiness to go along with being technically sound. We've already done the finesse thing with LJ Shelton.
But there's a difference in accepting the fact he won't be there at 5 (I'm still on the fence if he's going to be there or not) and trying to downgrade him for the sake of making yourself feel better about the situation. You can say that he's out of our "range" all you want, but don't knock the guy for the sake of it. Thomas is a damn good prospect and should at least get his respect.
In that case people are looking at the history of players from that school which is unfair and Thomas will make them believers.
Jeff, I think you hit it right on the head, the 'don't draft Joe Thomas' fans came out of the woodwork after the article on the Cardinal website came out proclaimning the O-Line is in good shape. People are like cattle they follow whatever the media says.
Hey Joe Thomas could be All-Pro OR he could be a bust, no one knows for sure. All I know is most 'experts' say he has all the tools to be a solid Tackle for many years. He doesn't have to be All-Pro he just needs to be a good tackle for this team.
Like I said in my post from several days ago, if he is there at 5 and the Cards go in a different direction, I will be completely disgusted with Graves and the whole lot of them.
That's pretty basic stuff though isn't it? A brute of an OT can still be technically sound and hold down his side of the line. We need some nastiness to go along with being technically sound. We've already done the finesse thing with LJ Shelton.
There lies my point. Thomas isn't finesse as everyone makes him out be. It's part of that fan illusion of "Because he looks like _____, he must/not play hard" Tracy McGrady is one who comes to mind that had knocks of "loafing" because he played smooth and doesn't look like he's working hard because the game just came to him easily.
Just because he isn't some sloppy mauler like Levi Brown (who has even LESS of a killer instinct than Thomas) doesn't mean he's light in the pants.
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Fitzgerald makes memorable plays so routinely that they stop being so memorable. - Mike Sando
That doesn't mean I love the guy. For some reason he reminds me of John Tait(Not sure if thats a good thing or not)...
And as much as I want the team to forever fix their OL problems, I also think you can find an effective Olinemen in later rounds. A top pick like the #5 should used on a great impact player. The only Impact player I see being at #5 is AP.
I also dont see us taking AP with Edge on board, but it would be sweet...
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"Here's this guy where nothing can break him, and he's lying on the field broken," recalls Cardinals offensive coordinator Todd Haley. "Because it was him, it was a little more traumatic for everybody, myself included." - On Boldins double hit injury that needed seven titanium plates secured by more than 40 screws in his surgically repaired face...
if he is picked at #5 he better makes 4-5 probowls because of the money he
will get paid!!! That is why I say we draft AP. Between Thomas and AP, who
do you fill (honestly) has a better chance at being a stud? In my opinion,
there is no question. Barring a major injury Peterson will be in the top 3-4
RB's in this league 3-4 years down the road. That is why people think AP is
the better choice, if available!!!
if he is picked at #5 he better makes 4-5 probowls because of the money he
will get paid!!! That is why I say we draft AP. Between Thomas and AP, who
do you fill (honestly) has a better chance at being a stud? In my opinion,
there is no question. Barring a major injury Peterson will be in the top 3-4
RB's in this league 3-4 years down the road. That is why people think AP is
the better choice, if available!!!
Good running backs are MUCH easier to find than good (and legit) left tackles. RBs are literally dime-a-dozen. Every draft churns out about five good prospects, even the weak ones. And since we have $15+ million invested in an elite running back already, I think we could afford to try and get a good left tackle, which is akin to a needle in a haystack.
In NBA terms, look at how many guards are in the league that are solid-above average. Then look at how many true centers there are, let alone the solid-above average ones. I can seriously count them on one hand. That is how I view the AP vs. Thomas debate.
With all that said, I like them both.
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Fitzgerald makes memorable plays so routinely that they stop being so memorable. - Mike Sando
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