Earl Thomas is a highly rated safety entering the draft this season. His coverage skills are extremely good but his help in stopping the run hasn't been the best all year. Thomas may be the second safety to be selected in this years Draft come April. His stellar coverage may let the Niners take a good long look at the Texas Junior. On most plays you will see Thomas trying to strip the ball.
In this segment, we will take a look at some of Thomas' highlights. I will list his stats and give some of my thoughts of where he could possibly go in the 2010 Draft.
The video displays Thomas' great coverage skills. But just as I said above, he sometimes has problems making the necessary tackles in front of him. When he does tackle, he goes either extremely low and on the ground before he meets the back which gives the backs or receivers an opportunity to hurdle him. He also goes extremely high in his tackles often allowing the back to bulldog him backwards.
AWARDS AND HONORS:
- 2008 Freshman All-American
- 2009 Defensive Back Trophy
- 2009 First Team All-American
CAREER STATS:
| Stats Overview | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||
| YEAR | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| 2008 | 71 | 52 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | 63 | 44 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 149 | 18.6 | 92 | 2 | 0 |
| 2009 Regular Season Game Log | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||||
| DATE | OPP | RESULT | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| 9/5 | Louisiana-Monroe | W 59-20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9/12 | @Wyoming | W 41-10 | Did Not Play or did not accumulate any stats. | |||||||||||||
| 9/19 | Texas Tech | W 34-24 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9/26 | UTEP | W 64-7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/10 | Colorado | W 38-14 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 92 | 92.0 | 92 | 1 | 0 |
| 10/17 | Oklahoma | W 16-13 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10/24 | @Missouri | W 41-7 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10/31 | @Oklahoma State | W 41-14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 31 | 31.0 | 31 | 1 | 2 |
| 11/7 | UCF | W 35-3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11/14 | @Baylor | W 47-14 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11/21 | Kansas | W 51-20 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 22.0 | 22 | 0 | 1 |
| 11/26 | @Texas A&M | W 49-39 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12/5 | @Nebraska | W 13-12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2009 Postseason Game Log | Tackles | Misc | Interceptions | |||||||||||||
| BOWL | OPP | RESULT | TOT | SOLO | AST | SACK | STF | STFY | FF | BK | INT | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD | PD |
| CITI BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME | @Alabama | L 37-21 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SUMMARY AND PROJECTIONS:
Scout's Inc has Earl Thomas ranked at the number two safety behind only Tennessee's Eric Berry. He will have his work cut out for him if he is drafted with a team that doesn't have the best front seven. He benefited tremendously from a great front seven at Texas. He will need to work on his tackling if he wants to be elite at the next level.
Possibilities -- 49ers, Giants, Broncos, Titans, Seahawks, Texans, Falcons. 1st Round.