Carries for Dymonte Thomas?
Just a quick question. We spent most of our time since 2011 salivating over how good, what an ATHLETE Dymonte Thomas is. So far, we've only seen him briefly at S and then a little more on kick coverage, where he put his elite athleticism on display.
Obviously, he's not quite ready to take over at Safety yet, which I understand. We've been playing kind of soft coverages, so you need seasoned guys. My question is this. His RS season is gone. Are we really going to let this elite athlete we were all terribly excited to get languish on special teams?
I seem to recall reading that he was quite the runner out of the backfield. At 190, he's not huge, but could probably handle a few carries per game. Do you think this is something the coaches should pursue?
October 8th, 2013 at 9:56 PM ^
and take whose carries? Do you think he is a better RB than D. Smith? If so, D. Smith - who PLAYS the position for a living - is not getting carries. Is he better than Green? If so he can fight with him for the 2-4 carries he has been getting almost every game save the last.
October 9th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^
October 10th, 2013 at 12:22 AM ^
October 8th, 2013 at 9:38 PM ^
Considering that our depth at safety isn't overly abundant right now, I'd like to see him spend as much time getting reps there as he can. He's our future at the position.
October 8th, 2013 at 9:39 PM ^
I don't think it'll actually happen... but I don't see a downside.
October 8th, 2013 at 11:56 PM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 11:32 AM ^
he has the Bowl Season, Spring, and Fall practices (and watching in actual games) to learn the position. Getting 30% fewer practice reps at Safety in October & November can't make much of a difference come next September.
October 9th, 2013 at 11:44 AM ^
October 8th, 2013 at 11:57 PM ^
The downside is that there is only so much practice time to go around--and whatever time he spends practing at RB is time he isn't practicing a DB.
October 9th, 2013 at 1:14 AM ^
LOL.
If Thomas got injured while carrying the ball at RB, A2 Torch & Pitchfork would sell out within 4 hours with all the MGoFans on the warpath over Hoke blowing an important DB scholarship on meaningless RB carries.
October 8th, 2013 at 9:42 PM ^
October 8th, 2013 at 9:48 PM ^
October 8th, 2013 at 10:12 PM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 4:13 PM ^
Nope, never hered that...
October 8th, 2013 at 9:44 PM ^
October 8th, 2013 at 9:52 PM ^
I hope they at least gave him a few reps at practice. If I'm not mistaken, he said he was told he'd get some looks on offense when he got to camp.
October 8th, 2013 at 9:55 PM ^
Its not HS where you use your best handful of athletes on both sides of the ball to gain advantage. Keep in mind the 4 star guys are absolute monsters at the HS level. And we fill up a team with them, as do our best competition.
Agreed its interesting to think of new wrinkles and things that other teams haven't seen on film yet, but I'm guessing the coaches getting paid a handful of millions each year have a better handle on what works and what doesn't better than the blog.
October 8th, 2013 at 10:04 PM ^
October 8th, 2013 at 10:56 PM ^
I chuckled. And then started crying. Because it is true. And will continue so.
October 8th, 2013 at 10:13 PM ^
October 8th, 2013 at 10:19 PM ^
Patently Ridiculous!
October 8th, 2013 at 11:02 PM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 8:20 AM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 1:40 AM ^
October 8th, 2013 at 11:09 PM ^
I would rather have him spend his time learning the defensive scheme, instead of giving him part of the offensive playbook to learn on top of that.
October 8th, 2013 at 11:12 PM ^
I highly doubt that Dymonte is a better RB than both Fitz and Green. However, if he can play LG, I'm open to that
October 8th, 2013 at 11:41 PM ^
Please, god-almighty, give the ball to De'Veon Smith before we try something like this.
October 9th, 2013 at 2:54 AM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 3:28 AM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 7:09 AM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 7:24 AM ^
We lost 9-3 in large part due to that fumble.
October 9th, 2013 at 8:53 AM ^
Can Magnus kick FGs? I heard he's into brunette girls.
October 9th, 2013 at 9:04 AM ^
Frankly, I think this question by the OP is a good one, and I also think it is a great idea. I am actually kind of surprised by how many people are against this. Obviously he needs to learn his future position. Is he going to not have a firm grasp of it if he plays a few offensive snaps? Probably not.
Are we counting on him to play it this year? No. Worst case scenario he's forced to, and no amount of hand holding is going to make him anything other than a freshman playing at S.
Our offense lost Darboh, the O line is a reshuffled work in progress, Funchess all of a sudden is a WR; frankly, our offense could use a spark, a playmaker.
Is everyone who is crapping on this idea also one of those against Gardner playing receiver last year? Since when did getting your best athlete on the field go from conventional wisdom to a bad idea? And how is from WR to QB a less difficult transition than S to taking just a few offensive snaps a game?
October 9th, 2013 at 10:18 AM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 11:00 AM ^
What's this all or nothing stuff? I want Dymonte Thomas to practice like two plays. He doesn't even need to line up as a RB, you could put him in the slot, break him out, whatever. I don't want him back there for every damn snap, just a Woodson type thing. A change of pace. The sort of thing I'm suggesting is way less of a change than DG. I hesitate to even call it a "change." Hell, maybe Thomas should quit practicing with special teams too, since he really needs those reps at safety. If we need Thomas, the reps will absolutely be important, you're right. But I'm not advocating a total quit on defensive reps at all.
DG already knew the offense, that's true. But if you're concerned about reps, and looking at the season thus far, maybe DG could have used more?
Again, I'm saying a few plays out there. Just to see if he can turn a simple slant into a long TD. NOT a position switch.
October 9th, 2013 at 12:06 PM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 12:47 PM ^
Don't know if he's Woodson, don't know what he is, have barely seen him on the college field yet. And since when is what other teams are doing the dicate of what WE are doing?
As for whether or not he can do it better than Chesson or Norfleet, again, who can say? Dymonte's recruiting page on this very site contains mostly offensive highlights, coaches gushing about his explosiveness, and him being an electrifying player. He may eventually do punt/kick returns in Brian's eyes.
Hah clearly I won't convince you. I think its worth trying. If he fails and doesn't do anything on offense fine, he'll have exactly one less touchdown than Norfleet and Chesson combined at this point this year.
October 9th, 2013 at 2:23 PM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 9:08 AM ^
we could give Dymonte some of norfleets touches because he hasn't done much. Maybe Dymonte can make some BIG plays with his speed. BIG AL needs to use all of the weapons we have!!!
October 9th, 2013 at 9:51 AM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 10:15 AM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 12:38 PM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^
Mattison should put him in Ondre's vacancy. That sounds reasonable.
October 9th, 2013 at 1:57 PM ^
I think Thomas needs to stay where he is so he can get more comfortable with what he's doing as a safety/nickle. He's a freshman and with time I think he is going to be a great safety so I don't see a lot of good coming from moving him to a different position for short term gain, but long term loss.
A player I have thought about in the same context though is Josh Furman. He was a stud RB in HS and has never seemed too close to playing time at safety so I have always wondered why they haven't tried him there. He is a freak athlete and basically only plays special teams.Perhaps the coaches have already tried it and it didn't work out, but it is something I have wanted to see because Furman was one of the players I was most excited about in his class...
October 9th, 2013 at 2:38 PM ^
As an ex coach I can tell you that there are kids that will jump out to you in practice, kids you had already pegged for a certain position. When these kids demonstrate a knack for say not getting knocked off their feet when running sideline tackling drills, an ability to gain quick separation, etc., you always think about and usually attempt to give them some carries in practice to see if they possess the requisite ability to add just a little more to your offense. It happens at every level. No matter how much vetting the coaches do, they'll give such kids opportunities even at the college level unless they are so much better on the other side of the ball due to the two platoon system. In h.s., this is not necessarily the case with many going both ways. I recall one year where this kid I used as a TE and Mike just kept ripping through would-be tacklers in tackling drills. By the end of the season he was my tailback and Mike, even though about .2 seconds slower than the kid who started off as tailback and later moved to slot with this change. ^I always thought about Furman in this context as well, but some kids take themselves out of consideration. Much like Hart who was rated a 3* because of questionable competition but quickly given a 4th * when he committed to M as a cb, jury was out on Furman. RR wanted speed and this kid has it. Just a tremendous athlete and whereas Mike didn't have the speed RR would have looked for he had what my TE/Mike, mentioned above had; the ability to stay on his feet and keep moving the chains when he became the primary back. Unless you're a Petersen, Dupree, Fournette, one of the most difficult positions to simply pencil in at the high D1 level. Green has already demonstrated he needs to become quicker with both decisions and hitting the hole despite being rated among the top 3 backs coming out of h.s. He is obviously going to remain a RB, but I'm hoping we don't have another Grady on our roster who was equally the monster in high school. His 3* bro, bb recruit actually gained more yards on the football field for us than his heavily recruited older brother. Like I said, very difficult to know if their h.s. exploits are able to translate once they get to the big stage.
October 9th, 2013 at 4:24 PM ^
October 9th, 2013 at 5:41 PM ^
It's interesting you would say that. I never said or implied that we NEEDED another presence at RB. Just that it would be interesting to see and I hated wasting his athleticism. When you say "no choice", it sounds like you're very dissatisfied with the talent we have at RB now. If you really are dissatisfied with it, why would you not want to try other bodies there?
October 9th, 2013 at 7:05 PM ^
I think you read his first paragraph wrong. He clearly says we don't need to move him because we have good choices at RB.
We are not "wasting" his athleticism because he's not playing offense. Not every kid will play a lot of snaps, and sometimes young kids with lots of athleticism need to learn how to play their position well before they get lots of snaps. Look - lots of the guys we have on offense right now are as athletic as Dymonte Thomas, or they're very close by are simply better at the other things (route running, blocking, catching, seeing the field, whatever). The most athletic guy doesn't necessary see the field because there's a lot more to it than that (otherwise Josh Furman would be in his 4th year starting).
Dymonte Thomas was a big time recruit because he has a lot of talent. But not he needs to put it all together, which will probably happen but he's only 5 games into his college career. After this year we lose Thomas Gordon and Countney Avery, so Dymonte will more than likely see the field quite a bit.