Dallas Cowboys NFL draft series: Michigan State receiver Devin Thomas

[Ambrus]

Size: 6-foot-1, 217 pounds

Combine 40-yard dash time: 4.40

POSITIVES

Physically, there may not be a more talented receiver in the draft. Built like a running back with top-end speed, Thomas has shot up draft charts of late because of his potential and is consider in some circles as the best at his position. After two seasons at Coffeyville Community College, came in and consistently produced at a high level in the Big Ten for a season. Thomas is excellent on screens and reverses, flashing run skills developed from his time as a tailback and slotback at lower levels. He has displayed very good vision in the open field, breaks tackles and is tough to bring down after the catch. Very sudden in and out of his breaks, with a second gear to take it the distance. Thomas was also great on kickoff returns, and though he didn't get chances all that much at State, could be a good punt returner too.

NEGATIVES

Thomas was only at the Div. I-A (or FBS) level for one season, so there's some question as to how refined he is. He'll have to work on his route-running and knowledge of the game, though the desire to learn is there. The Michigan State coaches constantly put him in position to succeed, and worked to get him the ball, so how he fits in to the offense when everyone around him is at his level could be a question. While he's explosive and fast, he often chose to overpower tacklers with his size in college, so you might wonder how elusive he can be in the phone booth, which would hamper his ability to return punts. He'll probably be able to contribute as a special teamer right away, but he'll have to learn the passing game at a more intricate level before becoming a consistent offensive performer.

COWBOY FIT

If the Cowboys are looking for a "Now" guy, Thomas might not be it. But he could jump in right away as a kick returner, and provide a threat on passing downs. He's built like Terrell Owens, and while he's a big-play guy, he wasn't used vertically all that much at Michigan State, so he might not be the best complementary receiver to 81. That said, if you had to bet on one guy being the best in this class two or three years from now, Thomas is it. And there's the possibility, because of his willingness to study and desire to succeed, that it all happens quicker than some might think. It is worth noting that he had no problem adjusting from Juco to the Big Ten.

MICHIGAN STATE OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR/WR COACH DON TREADWELL

When we arrived here, Devin was already in place, he was already a Spartan. I would say like any situation like this, when we first came in as a staff, more or less, the players are rejuvenated. The doors are wide open to competition, and I felt like Devin felt that way. He put his best foot forward, and was good from the start. He could do things athletically, that was clear if you watched him run and jump. He's built kind of like a running back. As we went into spring, he kept upping it a notch, each week you'd see flashes, you knew he might have a chance. One thing he has is vertical speed, and that fit with things we wanted to do. Coming out of spring, there were no true clear-cut starters. He worked his tail off with Brian Hoyer through spring, after the spring and all summer. By the time he came into preseason camp, it became obvious he'd be a mainstay. ... I wasn't surprised by what he could do. Each week, he continued to put games together like this. He was very consistent, and we did our part to help him through scheme and formations, to keep him productive as he started to attract more attention. ...The offense has enough flexibility built in where we could put him at an advantage. As we'd study opponents, and as he continued to improve, it was obvious we needed to get him involved. We went out of our way formationally and in playcalling to get him involved, lining him up inside and outside, getting him in position to run after catch, and taking advantage of his vertical speed. ... He catches the ball in (the flat), and with his size and strength, he takes that first step, and with his good acceleration, it's hard to bring him down in open field. ... Probably the one word we looked for with him is consistency. We went through the spring, and there were those flashes where you said, 'Whoa.' But it wouldn't be all the time. My challenge to him was to bring those high-level flashes, and string them together, and formulate some consistent play. He absolutely did that. ... Once an NFL receivers coach gets time to work with him, his upside is going to be tremendous. He was a slotback, running back and receiver in junior college and high school. This guy's been a multi-use guy. This was his first year solely as a receiver, and now that we put him out there, and he can do a lot of neat things. When it's nothing but football, he can fine tune his game as a receiver, they'll have the time to do that. He can work on the nuances of route running, getting in and out of cuts, reading the defense. He's a student of the game and he'll continue to improve as he learns. ...He's a quick learner and even moreso, he's one of the best students I've had in terms of self-study, watching film himself. I'd get there, and he'd already have been in the film room for half an hour before anyone came in. You'd give him the format for what you wanted, and he's going to exhaust every angle. That's his makeup, that's who he is. ...Very team-oriented. There's an award yearly here, it has to do with one of the most comical guys on team. Devin has that ability, to have a whole group crack up, that's his personality. He's an upbeat kid; and he won that award this year. ...My experience was he was always good with people, very upfront and dependable. We had no issues with him. ... You could see by his performance week-in and week-out, it ignited the offense. And he continued to play at a high level all year. Just by watching what he did, guys were looking to emulate him. Had he chose to come back, there's no question, he would've been a potential captain. ... If you study our offense, we're balanced, we're not going to be stubborn. We spread it all over field and throw it, we're going to run it, and throw play-action, and throw dropback. He allowed all avenues to be effective. You couldn't, say, drop safeties in the box to stop our running backs, because Thomas was going to go over the top on you. You couldn't cover him man-to-man. ... What we, with our Michigan State receivers, are going to pride ourselves on is going as hard away from the ball as we do with it. This spring, we were showing highlights in the running game to help our young players, to show them 'This is how we block, how you become more of a veteran.' Seventy percent of the clips were of Devin Thomas blocking downfield. ... Again, when a pro coach who has been with the guy day-after-day, gets to work on the finer points of the game, there's no limit to how good he can be. And he was such a productive special teams player for us, he can do that right away. ... He knows how to close a cushion as good as anyone I've seen, and he uses his body and size well to get position

[The Sisko]

While I wanted us to draft an OT in the last draft, I have to admit that Thomas has all the tools to develop into a very good WCO receiver. Great speed and RAC ability. If he can learn the offense better and improve his route running, he'll be off to the races...literally.

In retrospect, it really is too bad that Zorn didn't develop a few plays for him that don't require a lot of reads. Heck, we run the bubble screen with Moss a lot and Thomas could do just as well with that play as Moss.

It will be interesting to watch him, Sleepy and Kelly develop over the next couple of years.

[DieHard86]

Idiot Thomas--the nickname he earned from me for the whole season--will have to improve greatly over the offseason and start next to Moss if the offense is going to do anything

[SirClintonPortis]

The game commentators in some game a few weeks back said that he wasn't used to the covereage by DBs NFL-level football. He then commits offensive PI to show it. Also, coming in out of shape at training camp? He's got no one to blame but himself for that. [sarcasm]Now he's starting to catch up. Great job, Devin, great job. [/sarcasm]

[fwo40]

Why are people shocked and upset that a rookie WR is having a tough transition to the NFL?

90% of them do.

Relax.

[Spartacus87]

Idiot Thomas--the nickname he earned from me for the whole season--will have to improve greatly over the offseason and start next to Moss if the offense is going to do anything

He seems to have improved a good deal already over the last half of the season. Amazing that once he got more playing time and experience, he got better. Crazy idea for Zorn to consider.

Why doesn't Thomas return some punts? On that end around for the TD he looked like a man possessed running with the ball, just pure athleticism.

[Taiwan32]

He's a rookie... I he, Malcolm, and Fred work hard in the offseason. I'm excited to see what happens

[The Sisko]

He seems to have improved a good deal already over the last half of the season. Amazing that once he got more playing time and experience, he got better. Crazy idea for Zorn to consider.

Why doesn't Thomas return some punts? On that end around for the TD he looked like a man possessed running with the ball, just pure athleticism.

Absolutely. You could just see he "smelled" the endzone on that play. You can't teach that.

Hopefully Zorn and Co. figure out some plays that cater to his strengths and DT studies the playbook hard this offseason.

[pjfootballer]

Why are people shocked and upset that a rookie WR is having a tough transition to the NFL?

90% of them do.

Relax.

Because it's the ignorance and not willing to be patient with these guys. I want to win like the next Redskins fan, but some of our fanbase is really ignorant.