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Chad Thomas is a beast thread

The Hurricanes' Class of 2014 has a new Rivals100 member.

Miami (Fla.) Booker T. Washington defensive end Chad Thomas made the biggest jump in the rankings - he shot up 169 slots to No. 52 overall.

Thomas joins KC McDermott (No. 45) and Joseph Yearby (48) as other Rivals100 Cane commitments.
 
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http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1538123

In addition to the new five-stars, there were many prospects who made significant moves within the Rivals100 or into it. The three biggest movers pushed up at least 100 slots into the Rivals100 for the first time, led by Miami (Fla.) Booker T. Washington defensive end Chad Thomas (Miami commitment), who jumped 169 slots to No. 52 overall.

"Thomas made his jump after exceptional summer performances in Beaverton, Oregon, and at the Jimbo Fisher summer camp. Thomas nabbed DL MVP honors at The Opening, frustrating bigger offensive linemen with his ultra-quick get-off and active hands in pass-rush drills," Rivals.com Southeast analyst Kynon Codrington said. "At the Fisher camp, Thomas failed to lose a rep in one-on-ones, playing with great leverage and technique to dominate the afternoon session of the showcase. As a junior, Thomas recorded four sacks playing alongside five-star Florida State signee Matthew Thomas. This year, he will be the focal point of the front four and his production should increase."
 
Wow Thomas is number 17 overall in the scout rankings and Miami now has 3 5 star prospects according to scout. McDermott, Yearby, Thomas...
 
Most impressive part is that, if you see him in person, it doesn't seem like he's done extensive lifting. The guy is going to be a certified weirdo. A unique combination of a guy who's still raw physically, but naturally plays with awesome leverage. Even in some of these short clips, watch him pop off the line, wait for the OLineman to get set, then drop his *** and reach out with go-go-gadget arms. Don't really see that in a lot of 17 year old players.

Will wait to see him this year, but he's probably slightly ahead of who I thought was our best prospect last year: Artie Burns.
 
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I've been saying for a year now he has the upside in high school to be on the same level, or higher, than Matthew Thomas was. As Lu pointed out, he doesn't look like a kid that has hit the weights, but he just has natural skills that can't be taught. Once he gets the S&C he will be unstoppable.

A different prospect than AQM, but possibly better by the time his senior season is over.
 
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Lu, can you post that top ten list of the best prospects the last three years, that you had a while back? And how does this year's crop compare.
 
bobbydigius said:
Lu, can you post that top ten list of the best prospects the last three years, that you had a while back? And how does this year's crop compare.
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Way too early to compare much because I haven't seen all of the players yet. Chad Thomas is the only one I'd put on right now because I've seen a good amount of him. Here's the list and the explanation of the VHIII discussion.

Off the top of my head, here's how I'd rank the state of Florida's defensive prospects (coming out of high school) in the last 5 years:

1. Matthew Thomas
2. Corey Lemonier
3. Haha Clinton-Dix
4. Tim Jernigan
5. Christian Jones
6. Aaron Lynch
7. Matt Elam
8. Artie Burns
9. Leonard Williams
10. Karlos Williams

Tracy Howard, PJ Williams, Dante Fowler and a few others could be argued in. I also almost undoubtedly forgot a few guys. I'd need to go back to a database to see all the names.

The main "controversy" revolved around VHIII. I didn't forget him. I think he's going to be very solid. I just consider his ceiling to be lower, so he just fell out of the list around where Tracy Howard would be.
 
LuCane said:
Most impressive part is that, if you see him in person, it doesn't seem like he's done extensive lifting. The guy is going to be a certified weirdo. A unique combination of a guy who's still raw physically, but naturally plays with awesome leverage.
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Yup you just know that he has the frame to add a lot of weight and not lose a step (maybe even add some explosiveness with some of his muscle development).

I see him ending up around 6'6 280. He kind of reminds me of Stephon Tuitt from ND, but I don't see him ending up quite as large as Tuitt.
 
JHallCanes said:
I've been saying for a year now he has the upside in high school to be on the same level, or higher, than Matthew Thomas was. As Lu pointed out, he doesn't look like a kid that has hit the weights, but he just has natural skills that can't be taught. Once he gets the S&C he will be unstoppable.

A different prospect than AQM, but possibly better by the time his senior season is over.
Click to expand...


That's the reason I'm excited to see him a year or two after arriving here. He made a comment during an interview at The Opening where he said he had been working on getting stronger by "doing a lot of push-ups." All I could do was laugh at the idea of this guy tossing around 5-star offensive linemen during these drills after doing an extensive training program consisting of push-ups.

Wait until he's a sophomore here. It's gonna be terrifying. He's gonna swell up and turn into JPP.
 
From Scout...

http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1317446.html

There was plenty of movement though, especially in the South.

Chad Thomas started off in the Scout 100 and he has worked his way up to the top 20 in the country after a very impressive summer. Thomas, a star out of Miami (Fla.) Booker T. Washington has gained about 15-20 pounds this off-season,

"Thomas has showed he can beat the best in the country, and he still has so much upside," said national recruiting analyst Chad Simmons. "He is now in the discussion for the overall top prospect in Florida and that says a lot. With his quickness off the ball, the added mass and strength helping him seal the edge combined with his upside puts him in an elite group on Scout."
 
I love Chad Thomas as a prospect, obviously. The kid is an absolute beast that is going to pancake dozens and dozens and dozens of OL by the time he is done here. Should be an All-American.

I'm definitely not going to compare or call him better than AQM though. AQM has showed up in games where it matters most. IIRC he had a forced fumble and fumble recovery in the UA All Star game. Also balled in his game vs Bergen Catholic and the state finals. (Think they might have played bergen in the state finals too but not sure). AQM and Chad are both beasts in their own right and luckily we don't have to worry about comparing them because we are lucky to watch them complement each other for the mofuggin Miami Hurricanes.

Seriously, they are going to wreck havoc. Our D is about to get filthy boys.
 
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WhatTheHell said:
JHallCanes said:
I've been saying for a year now he has the upside in high school to be on the same level, or higher, than Matthew Thomas was. As Lu pointed out, he doesn't look like a kid that has hit the weights, but he just has natural skills that can't be taught. Once he gets the S&C he will be unstoppable.

A different prospect than AQM, but possibly better by the time his senior season is over.
Click to expand...


That's the reason I'm excited to see him a year or two after arriving here. He made a comment during an interview at The Opening where he said he had been working on getting stronger by "doing a lot of push-ups." All I could do was laugh at the idea of this guy tossing around 5-star offensive linemen during these drills after doing an extensive training program consisting of push-ups.

Wait until he's a sophomore here. It's gonna be terrifying. He's gonna swell up and turn into JPP.
Click to expand...

Right there with you. When you see a kid that gets these top OL guys constantly off balance, you have to raise an eyebrow. It's not like he just speed rushes or overpowers guys straight up. He uses his feet and his long arms well but he obviously has good dexterity and agility. In small spaces he moves well. Now add UTough to him and you have All American potential.

Can't wait.
 
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