Chad Thomas was faring very well on day one until he was manhandled by the huge UTEP guard Hernandez. Not a fair fight physically. Of course, Thomas had plenty of company. Hernandez is a wide body who dominates his opponent more often than not, and he was having a great day on Tuesday. Probably the best player on either side.
Too bad Thomas missed the remainder of the week.
Per the Dolphins, I'm not convinced on Josh Allen but the criticism here is too harsh. He's hardly a no-chance tunnel vision winger type like Clausen or Hackenberg. Allen will look bad on a particular type of throw and then execute it perfectly the next time. He's going to be a guy who makes huge plays on some possessions and then strangely disappears for a possession or two.
I wouldn't trust him as early starter. Probably lots of forced picks. But there's no question he has more upside than Tannehill.
From the first time I saw Allen a couple of years ago he reminded me of a much larger and more talented version of Jake Plummer. I'll stick with that even though it is not a popular comparison. For as smart and agile and effective as Plummer always looked, his college completion percentage was in the mid 50s. Four consecutive years. He finished with a career number of 55.4% and the highest in any one season was barely above 57%. That's why I immediately thought of Plummer when Allen emerged in 2016. Allen runs smoothly like a larger version of Plummer and can buy time to create a passing lane. He also runs effectively when it's there. But it never equates to one impressive throw and drive after another. Hit and miss.
Of course, Allen has a far stronger arm than Plummer ever did. That's the intrigue.
I don't want a little guy like Roquan Smith, who was not even listed as a first rounder in the 2018 early mock drafts from last April or even the versions from September or October 2017. Late risers are sucker material. The Dolphins have succumbed far too often. Far preferable to take a guy like Derwin James, who probably would have been a first round pick in 2016 if eligible, based on his great freshman year alone. James was a 5 star recruit while Smith was borderline 3/4.
Florida State has several 5 star guys who along with Chad Thomas will be intriguing fits in this draft, like James, Sweat and Thomas. Probably somebody I'm forgetting.
