Bears draft OT Zachary Thomas (San Diego State) 186th overall

[CBears019]

Bio:

Thomas did not go far to matriculate to SDSU, driving south about 40 minutes from his home in Carlsbad. He redshirted his first year on campus, played in all 13 games as a reserve in 2017 and then earned two starts in three contests played at right guard in 2018. Thomas grabbed the starting right tackle job in 2019, beginning the final nine games and making 12 appearances overall. He garnered second-team All-Mountain West Conference honors in 2020 for his work in eight starts at right tackle and then graduated to first-team recognition in 13 games (12 starts) at left tackle in 2021. His brother, Cameron, was a defensive lineman for San Diego State and is also a member of the 2022 draft class. -- by Chad Reuter

Overview:

Tackle-to-guard prospect with run-blocking talent to work with, Thomas is a fit for zone-scheme teams as a sticky move blocker with the ability to shift and stay connected while continuing to keep his feet moving. He lacks the desired mass and power to generate much downhill push, but improved hand placement could help. His play strength, in general, needs an upgrade, as does his protection posture, to prevent defenders from exploiting certain flaws. Thomas has late-round potential and could find a place on an NFL roster as a guard with emergency tackle flexibility.

Strengths:

Broad across his upper body, with room for more muscle.

Comes off the snap with excellent pad level.

Stays low and fits into blocks with leverage.

Engages and runs feet through the whistle.

Athleticism and body control to stay connected to the block.

Active feet to mirror the rush.

Feints punch to create a reaction.

Brings feet with him through protection redirection.

Weaknesses:

Lacks explosiveness into contact.

Doesn't generate much pop getting into down blocks.

Hand placement can get away from him.

Needs to do a better job of resetting hands when he gets behind.

Plays with lunge when climbing up to linebackers.

Punch gets timed and swatted by defenders.

Needs to maintain a flat-back protection posture.

More rigid punch to firm up edges is required.

 

https://www.nfl.com/prospects/zach-thomas/32005448-4f41-0700-de26-4c02b0aacfb3

 

[JAF-N72EX]

Great value and alot of potential. But those injuries are a big red flag.

[beardown3231]

 

[soulman]

Another college LT who projects at OG.  Here again Poles seems to be shopping hard for value.  Thomas has some nice physical traits but his fit is pretty only as a zone scheme blocker.  Not having a 4th round pick cost us having a shot at more highly ranked OL.

[StLunatic88]

Another long athlete with technical issues.

It was good to see him add bulk and strength this year and that didn’t hinder him. Might be able to add on alittle bit more.

Seems like they have their equation for lineman,  find the athletic and traits profile that fits the system, and worry about rebuilding their mechanics once’s they’re get into camp

Not a bad approach, and also let’s you keep churning out guys (guards and RTs) as they go on to next major contracts in the future 

[soulman]

50 minutes ago, StLunatic88 said:

Another long athlete with technical issues.

It was good to see him add bulk and strength this year and that didn’t hinder him. Might be able to add on alittle bit more.

Seems like they have their equation for lineman,  find the athletic and traits profile that fits the system, and worry about rebuilding their mechanics once’s they’re get into camp

Not a bad approach, and also let’s you keep churning out guys (guards and RTs) as they go on to next major contracts in the future 

Not a bad approach at all as long as they're also high football IQ guys with technique issues that can be corrected.  With all of the mid round and later drafted OL in the NFL now you have to wonder just how much difference there is between a guy ranked as the 5-6 best and one ranked as the 10-12 best.  Does is mostly come down to readiness to play now vs the need for development.

[Madmike90]

Another quality pick up this one...put him inside from day one and allow him to develop...I would keep him at LG and hope that next year he can start instead of Whitehair.

[WindyCity]

I think be is the one most likely to compete at RG with a veteran sighing.

He is the most ready of the guys to start.

[WindyCity]

The Packers do this a lot and the Chiefs have done it in the past with success.

Kicking college OTs inside.

Athletic, long, not bulky, College OTs moving inside will likely be a staple for us.

[dll2000]

Okay I watched this guy last night.  

I like his upside at T or G.  

He plays hard and through the whistle and is aggressive.  I love that.  He has good feet, which is super important.   Those are great starting points in an Olinemen.

Problem is he plays over his skis.  Which means he is going to both whiff and be on ground a lot until he fixes that.    He does not properly use his hands and arms.  He doesn’t properly anchor on pass pro.   He is largely neglecting the larger muscles in lower body and losing a lot of power in everything he does.   Super impressive that he does as well as he does with how he does things.

Honestly, I am not sure how some of these college Oline coaches have jobs.  What are they doing in practice I wonder?  

 If this guy went to Iowa he is at least a 4th round pick and maybe a 3rd and assured 4 or 5 years in NFL at least.   As it is he may be behind the 8 ball because he is a 6th rounder.  I think he sticks at least for a bit, as coaches should also see the upside in him.    

[dll2000]

Oh he is also a knee bender which is another really nice starting point.  I hope the new bears Oline coach does well by him.  

Like to see what he can do if doing it right.  

[Sugashane]

Now I want to say I haven't played OL since there were lightweight/heavyweight games in junior high, but as far as adjusting to a switch to center how dramatic of an adjustment is it at the pro level?

 

We seem to have two OTs locked in right now,

Dozier is an OG who is over 30,

Whitehair is a G/C who is in his last year

Mustipher is a C/G who was REALLY bad last year

Dieter has almost no pro game experience

Scales is outweighed by Roquan Smith so I'd be $3.25 that he isn't going to play center...

So that leaves us with some young players. Thomas, Carter, Delance (just saw that, nice!), Kramer, and Wright who all have 1 year or under in the NFL.

 

What traits do yo think separate center from other OL? I know they need to be able to find the MIKE and adjust but I don't see why a vet G couldn't do the same thing. Maybe being a natural knee bender since they can't put as much weight down on the ball as a G can in his three point stance (still want to be low)? Maybe a stronger anchor since they are the head of the pocket and the QB needs to be able to step up? With my coaching for youth we generally put the best OL there.

 

Just trying to guess how one of these young guys might get picked to transition to C. With only a few people who have played C and Whitehair potentially being on his way out in 2023 that would be where I would want to try to work at to get on the field. I'm assuming Poles, Flus, Getsy don't try switching a player right before week one like Fox did with Long (who admittedly at least had prior experience at RT).

[dll2000]

1 hour ago, Sugashane said:

Now I want to say I haven't played OL since there were lightweight/heavyweight games in junior high, but as far as adjusting to a switch to center how dramatic of an adjustment is it at the pro level?

 

We seem to have two OTs locked in right now,

Dozier is an OG who is over 30,

Whitehair is a G/C who is in his last year

Mustipher is a C/G who was REALLY bad last year

Dieter has almost no pro game experience

Scales is outweighed by Roquan Smith so I'd be $3.25 that he isn't going to play center...

So that leaves us with some young players. Thomas, Carter, Delance (just saw that, nice!), Kramer, and Wright who all have 1 year or under in the NFL.

 

What traits do yo think separate center from other OL? I know they need to be able to find the MIKE and adjust but I don't see why a vet G couldn't do the same thing. Maybe being a natural knee bender since they can't put as much weight down on the ball as a G can in his three point stance (still want to be low)? Maybe a stronger anchor since they are the head of the pocket and the QB needs to be able to step up? With my coaching for youth we generally put the best OL there.

 

Just trying to guess how one of these young guys might get picked to transition to C. With only a few people who have played C and Whitehair potentially being on his way out in 2023 that would be where I would want to try to work at to get on the field. I'm assuming Poles, Flus, Getsy don't try switching a player right before week one like Fox did with Long (who admittedly at least had prior experience at RT).

Really dramatic.

Center is hard because of snap and most mentally taxing position on OL.   Takes a lot of reps.   It requires a bit more quick twitch muscle, but you also have to be stout enough not to get bulled by heaviest guys on DL.

Honestly Daniels has ideal center qualities and was great at Iowa at it.  Not sure what happened to him with Bears.  I would have never guessed his career went way it did at draft time or after rookie year.  Not bad, but nothing near what I expected and I certainly didn't expect him to play G.   I think Pace screwed up not sticking him at C from jump even if he wasn't starting right away.   He got too cute with it.  

I would say its Patrick cemented at starter with Mustipher backing him up.   Dieter has an outside shot of beating out Mustipher for #2 center - he didn't really get a fair chance last camp for whatever reason as he trained hard in offseason at center and they immediately moved him and didn't give him many, maybe even no reps at C.  I don't really recall exactly how it went down.  Maybe new staff makes it a legit competition.  

Then emergency is Whitehair and someone else would go to guard.

They probably put the rookie they drafted at C on practice squad as emergency emergency.

 

 

 

[Bigbear72]

5 minutes ago, dll2000 said:

Really dramatic.

Center is hard because of snap and most mentally taxing position on OL.   Takes a lot of reps.   It requires a bit more quick twitch muscle, but you also have to be stout enough not to get bulled by heaviest guys on DL.

Honestly Daniels has ideal center qualities and was great at Iowa at it.  Not sure what happened to him with Bears.  I would have never guessed his career went way it did at draft time or after rookie year.  Not bad, but nothing near what I expected and I certainly didn't expect him to play G.   I think Pace screwed up not sticking him at C from jump even if he wasn't starting right away.   He got too cute with it.  

I would say its Patrick cemented at starter with Mustipher backing him up.   Dieter has an outside shot of beating out Mustipher for #2 center - he didn't really get a fair chance last camp for whatever reason as he trained hard in offseason at center and they immediately moved him and didn't give him many, maybe even no reps at C.  I don't really recall exactly how it went down.  Maybe new staff makes it a legit competition.  

Then emergency is Whitehair and someone else would go to guard.

They probably put the rookie they drafted at C on practice squad as emergency emergency.

 

 

 

He got Nagy'd.

[AZBearsFan]

1 hour ago, dll2000 said:

Really dramatic.

Center is hard because of snap and most mentally taxing position on OL.   Takes a lot of reps.   It requires a bit more quick twitch muscle, but you also have to be stout enough not to get bulled by heaviest guys on DL.

Honestly Daniels has ideal center qualities and was great at Iowa at it.  Not sure what happened to him with Bears.  I would have never guessed his career went way it did at draft time or after rookie year.  Not bad, but nothing near what I expected and I certainly didn't expect him to play G.   I think Pace screwed up not sticking him at C from jump even if he wasn't starting right away.   He got too cute with it.  

I would say its Patrick cemented at starter with Mustipher backing him up.   Dieter has an outside shot of beating out Mustipher for #2 center - he didn't really get a fair chance last camp for whatever reason as he trained hard in offseason at center and they immediately moved him and didn't give him many, maybe even no reps at C.  I don't really recall exactly how it went down.  Maybe new staff makes it a legit competition.  

Then emergency is Whitehair and someone else would go to guard.

They probably put the rookie they drafted at C on practice squad as emergency emergency.

 

 

 

Given Mustipher’s lack of basically any movement skills and his unfavorable performance in 2021 I think Kramer will get every opportunity to take the backup C spot from him.