Deontre Thomas
- Thread starter Cornhuskers10
- Start date
I really like his highlights, comes off of the ball well, really good lateral movement it seems, stayed home and held the edge when he was supposed to and played equally well being moved up and down the line. Doesn't look like a 5.6 unranked guy to me...I hope he chooses N!
He has offer from Texas A&M and Kansas State. I can see him getting a ratings boost before next fall.
I believe ellobo has stated Nebraska lean in a prior thread
interesting offer list -- Mich, Neb and aTm but no offer from in state schools - Ok St, or OU
interesting offer list -- Mich, Neb and aTm but no offer from in state schools - Ok St, or OU
What I said is I'm pretty sure its not Michigan. Obviously the logical conclusion is then that it is NU. I am only clarifying because the blogger who made the post that announced the date and said it is between Michigan and NU is not in the top group of Michigan "insiders" I trust the most. Thus if there is say a third team I don't want people to think I tried to be a know it all vs. just a reader of guys who know stuff and giving my take...speaking of which, it is because of the insiders I trust more that I believe it is not Michigan.
Fwiw...from what I gather (aka read) he just started playing football. That is the reason for his ranking and random offer list. However, his athletic ability is off the charts and if/when he learns to play the game could be special.
http://www.scout.com/college/oklahoma/story/1661234-sooner-intel-deontre-thomas
According to this article by a Sooner writer, Deontre was 210 lbs last year and is up to 260 lbs now. I guess OU has been offering 300 lb guys in the trenches so that may explain why he hasn't got an offer from the Sooners. But it's still early in the process; he could earn an offer from his in-state schools. It doesn't sound like they're his dream offers, though. If he commits and then OU or OkieState offers, he might consider them but I don't think we necessarily would need to be afraid he'd jump ship right away.
Oh, that article also implies he's leaning to Michigan. Everything I've read indicates he's leaning to the Huskers in recent weeks, so who knows. I think we have a good shot.
According to this article by a Sooner writer, Deontre was 210 lbs last year and is up to 260 lbs now. I guess OU has been offering 300 lb guys in the trenches so that may explain why he hasn't got an offer from the Sooners. But it's still early in the process; he could earn an offer from his in-state schools. It doesn't sound like they're his dream offers, though. If he commits and then OU or OkieState offers, he might consider them but I don't think we necessarily would need to be afraid he'd jump ship right away.
Oh, that article also implies he's leaning to Michigan. Everything I've read indicates he's leaning to the Huskers in recent weeks, so who knows. I think we have a good shot.
DT---I think he has the frame to add weight like the Davis twins during a RS year.
McQuitty also tweeted at him yesterday as well.
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Good guys right now, I'd say (my estimate) 60/40 NU---we will see if Parrella can close him this week.
2 HS and 1 Juco DT this cycle would be nice.
I saw he was a Michigan lean until he went to the Nebraska spring game. I think he'll be N.
Khalil Mack only played his senior year in high school and look at him now. Hopefully this guy can turn out the same way.
Michigan did lead, however, look at the date on the article: 4/15. Correct me if I'm wrong, he attended your spring game which was on 4/16 and thus the interview had to be done before he left for Lincoln. In addition, he visited Michigan for our spring game which was on 4/1 and on 4/2 another (projected 3-tech) DT verballed to Michigan. Since then I have heard they told another DT (not Thomas) that they were reevaluating the needs at the position and asked him to wait.
Michigan, in basic terms, plays with a NT and a DT (3-tech) and the two aren't quite interchangeable (though you can only project what a player will grow into I do believe they project Thomas as a DT and not a NT). Michigan's much bigger need (pun intended) is at NT. This does not mean they wouldn't have taken Thomas before the other guy committed nor that they stopped recruiting him as they evaluate things and might decide to take a 2nd DT (or see something that makes them believe a DT will end up being a fit for NT). But as it stands Michigan needs at least 2 true projected NTs (well that might be the max also simply because true NTs are hard to find) as we haven't landed one in 2 years. Thus, the reason I really don't think it is Michigan.
Now one thing I do want to be clear on is that I'm only telling the Michigan side of things...he visited your school last week and a week later says he is ready to announce. He could of simply liked NU that much better and what is going on with the Michigan situation is a non-factor.
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Thanks for the info, my understanding is that he has had the 4/30 announcement date set for awhile and isn't related to his NU visit. The actual decision could be related
but not the date.Great combination of speed & power. Good leverage, balance. Sure looks like a 4* to me!
Get more excited about this guy the more I hear about him! Under the radar type, at a position of need, with plenty of room to grow and improve. Hopefully he retains his athleticism with putting on more weight. He might be the recruit I am most excited about in this class, when considering the current make-up of the roster.
Like his motor, like his ability to diagnose the play and take a good angle. Not sure if it's by design that he's a tick slow out of his stance. Seems like on a lot of the snaps his other 3 teammates are out of their stance before he is, but he also has a lot of plays on there where he's playing under control and "stays home" to make a good assignment play. So it might be that he's just doing his job and I don't know what I'm looking at.
Plays with good pad level. Like that one around 2:00 where he eats the double team and stuffs the inside run. He's got his head down to chest level while the two OL are trying to block him high. Low man wins.
I'd also be curious to see if the tape measure says he's really 6'3" because maybe it's how well he sinks into his hips, but he doesn't look like he's 6'3". But, he's also probably 16 years old in that film, so it's not unusual for a kid to grow 4 inches in a year at that age.
Like how he sheds blockers. I'm not super savvy about DL techniques, but he strikes me as a nose. He's not crazy explosive in terms of flying off the snap or chasing down plays from behind, but he's strong as hell and plays with good technique. Seems like he plays with a wide base and is very tough to move.
Plays with good pad level. Like that one around 2:00 where he eats the double team and stuffs the inside run. He's got his head down to chest level while the two OL are trying to block him high. Low man wins.
I'd also be curious to see if the tape measure says he's really 6'3" because maybe it's how well he sinks into his hips, but he doesn't look like he's 6'3". But, he's also probably 16 years old in that film, so it's not unusual for a kid to grow 4 inches in a year at that age.
Like how he sheds blockers. I'm not super savvy about DL techniques, but he strikes me as a nose. He's not crazy explosive in terms of flying off the snap or chasing down plays from behind, but he's strong as hell and plays with good technique. Seems like he plays with a wide base and is very tough to move.
However tall Parrella is, Thomas is just a smidge shorter. Probably the best way to judge his actual height.
Thanks, so we take the shorter height---probably closer to 6'3" for Parrella---and it is feasible that Thomas is 6'2"ish
Always makes me laugh. These things are pretty easy to measure...
Drawing upon my vast scouting expertise (I've watched lots of college football on TV), I would say that this kid is a very good, very big athlete. If he really has just started playing football, then his upside is tremendous. JP might be just the guy to help him reach his potential.
Just had to say that is a great statement. We all can be experts in our own minds if we want to be.
One thing that " real experts" have said that I truly believe is you can't evaluate a player on highlight film...if you just look at the highlights almost anyone could look like a future star...you have to look at full games...I don't have the time to do that so I read the reports of those that do.