Jeff Thomas

[DW Toys]

If BB finally finds a burner at SlotWR, be it this guy or some other, Brady might book a flight to New England just to kick he ex-coach's ass.

This kid had a 4th round rating by some and if he wasn't such a pain in the ass he would not have missed a few games for infractions, he could have produced even more. He might have had Hamler's numbers (drafted in the 2nd by Denver). Their elite speed is close. Their ability to take the top off is superb in both cases. This might have been the Patriots best pick up in Day three. BB could have went fishing for the Draft day three (think he did) and come back for the bargain basement kids in UDFA.
31% of every NFL roster by average is made up of UDFA and street pickups.We have about 18 of those on our present roster not including yesterday. Some will stick and some not.

It's not for lack of skill. He evidently he feels he is entitled and has a big mouth. That stops in NE or it's back to the XFL......opps.

They comp him to Antonio Callaway (205 pick in 2018 Draft or 3rd round) who let GANGSTA AND GANJA B.S. prevent him from being a very successful and wealthy young man.
Kid wants an NFL career. He definitely has a chance here. It's up to him.

DW Toys

 

[DW Toys]

Going to temper any excitement because UDFAs are always like this. Get excited for them and they don’t pan out (with about one exception every year).

Hard not to get excited by Thomas’ highlight reel though.

True but I bet the Patriots dod not judge a player on where they are Drafted more than most Teams.
Kid has a shot. If he looks at the roster he has to beat out primarily Gunner and Meyers or one of those two, or if Lee gets injured as usual and or Byrd does not pan out, he can move further up the roster. Talent-wise, he's got a shot.
DW Toys

 

[DW Toys]

Wonder if this kid has another plan to earn $480,000 this year?

Touche Cousin.
Ironically this kid is the same size as Byrd.
I am seeing a trend Here. Hill now brings into focus the second eversion of smurf NFL WRs.
DW Toys

 

[notex]

This kid had a 4th round rating by some and if he wasn't such a pain in the ass he would not have missed a few games for infractions, he could have produced even more. He might have had Hamler's numbers (drafted in the 2nd by Denver). Their elite speed is close. Their ability to take the top off is superb in both cases. This might have been the Patriots best pick up in Day three. BB could have went fishing for the Draft day three (think he did) and come back for the bargain basement kids in UDFA.
31% of every NFL roster by average is made up of UDFA and street pickups.We have about 18 of those on our present roster not including yesterday. Some will stick and some not.

It's not for lack of skill. He evidently he feels he is entitled and has a big mouth. That stops in NE or it's back to the XFL......opps.

They comp him to Antonio Callaway (205 pick in 2018 Draft or 3rd round) who let GANGSTA AND GANJA B.S. prevent him from being a very successful and wealthy young man.
Kid wants an NFL career. He definitely has a chance here. It's up to him.

DW Toys

Where did you get this stat from? I'm honestly curious I didn't realize we had 18 UDFAs? I can name only a couple.

 

[manxman2601]

True but I bet the Patriots dod not judge a player on where they are Drafted more than most Teams.
Kid has a shot. If he looks at the roster he has to beat out primarily Gunner and Meyers or one of those two, or if Lee gets injured as usual and or Byrd does not pan out, he can move further up the roster. Talent-wise, he's got a shot.
DW Toys

Agree with that but there’s a reason he wasn’t drafted. Hopefully he can turn a character page know he’s a professional.

 

[mgteich]

True but I bet the Patriots dod not judge a player on where they are Drafted more than most Teams.
Kid has a shot. If he looks at the roster he has to beat out primarily Gunner and Meyers or one of those two, or if Lee gets injured as usual and or Byrd does not pan out, he can move further up the roster. Talent-wise, he's got a shot.
DW Toys

Edelman, Sanu, Harry, Byrd, Lee

 

[Ross12]

Thomas' new best friends should be Edelman (learn the playbook, learn to be an NFL receiver), Slater (learn to be a professional) and J.C. Jackson (learn how to stop being a jacka** and make use of your incredible talents).

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

@BaconGrundleCandy What are his off the field issues?

Sorry was kinda busy eariler.

Heard several rumors about him beefing with coaches/players on multiple occasions. Seemed like it was always a rough ride with him there. Seems like a guy that might make an impulsive decision off anger?
Also heard he was soft spoken when he first got there. Maybe influenced early by the wrong guys, wrong crowd?

Hopefully he had a wake up call along the way.

 

[Steve102]

Sorry was kinda busy eariler.

Heard several rumors about him beefing with coaches/players on multiple occasions. Seemed like it was always a rough ride with him there. Seems like a guy that might make an impulsive decision off anger?
Also heard he was soft spoken when he first got there. Maybe influenced early by the wrong guys, wrong crowd?

Hopefully he had a wake up call along the way.

He will certainly have good dudes in his position group to advise him.

 

[patsinthesnow]

Thomas is getting buzz from beat writers. Some coaches quotes:

“You could definitely see he had a different ability; they call it blowing the top off the coverage,’’ Diaz, now Miami’s head coach, said in a recent telephone interview. “And instantly all of our guys on defense just knew that you had to cover Jeff differently than you had to cover some of our other wide receivers.’’

“I think there’s no doubt that he [will] benefit in New England; I think he’d be a great match,’’ said Diaz. “I think Jeff wants structure, he wants discipline. He’s aware that there’s consequences to actions, and again that’s why New England can be a great fit for him.’’

Thomas’ up-and-down past crept into his combine evaluation, particularly as it related to his 40 time (4.45 seconds). Teams wondered if he trained hard enough before the most important job interview of his life.

On the field, Thomas’ former coaches compared him to the likes of Mecole Hardman, Tavon Austin and Isaiah McKenzie. He was described as “way quicker” than Hardman and a “freak” with his change of direction, ball skills and ability on gadget plays and kick and punt returns. And Thomas can be uncoverable in the slot against man coverage. But one coach said that will come to fruition only “if he gets his **** together.”

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

Thomas is getting buzz from beat writers. Some coaches quotes:

“You could definitely see he had a different ability; they call it blowing the top off the coverage,’’ Diaz, now Miami’s head coach, said in a recent telephone interview. “And instantly all of our guys on defense just knew that you had to cover Jeff differently than you had to cover some of our other wide receivers.’’

“I think there’s no doubt that he [will] benefit in New England; I think he’d be a great match,’’ said Diaz. “I think Jeff wants structure, he wants discipline. He’s aware that there’s consequences to actions, and again that’s why New England can be a great fit for him.’’

Thomas’ up-and-down past crept into his combine evaluation, particularly as it related to his 40 time (4.45 seconds). Teams wondered if he trained hard enough before the most important job interview of his life.

On the field, Thomas’ former coaches compared him to the likes of Mecole Hardman, Tavon Austin and Isaiah McKenzie. He was described as “way quicker” than Hardman and a “freak” with his change of direction, ball skills and ability on gadget plays and kick and punt returns. And Thomas can be uncoverable in the slot against man coverage. But one coach said that will come to fruition only “if he gets his **** together.”

I’m willing to try him over Sanu and not lose any sleep

 

[Joker]

Sorry was kinda busy eariler.

Heard several rumors about him beefing with coaches/players on multiple occasions. Seemed like it was always a rough ride with him there. Seems like a guy that might make an impulsive decision off anger?
Also heard he was soft spoken when he first got there. Maybe influenced early by the wrong guys, wrong crowd?

Hopefully he had a wake up call along the way.

Brandon Marshall had the same kind of troubled history until he was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder...it took many seasons but he finally got into therapy and changed his life. Here's an autobio of sorts wherein he explains his journey and eventual resolution
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/brandon-marshall-nfl-mental-health-awareness

just spitballing here but I'm confident the Pats have done a psych evaluation on Thomas and will take the appropriate steps to help get his mind right

 

[Zuma]

I’m willing to try him over Sanu and not lose any sleep

Not totally against that...but the Dude hasn't played a single NFL game, taken a snap, been to practice. Nor has he carried Jules jockstrap yet. There is zero doubt he has talent but...

 

[Patsgofor4]

I'm going to be glass more than half-full on Thomas and focus on these two statements:

He was described as “way quicker” than Hardman....

Thomas can be uncoverable in the slot against man coverage.

 

[supafly]

Edelman, Sanu, Harry, Byrd, Lee

Here we go with the early summer roster predictions at WR.

So, this Byrd guy (5’9” and 178 lbs) is going to beat out Gunner, Meyers, and the dude who the thread is about, Jeff Thomas? This is also assuming that they’re going to keep 5 WRs + Slater, which is hardly a sure thing. I hope this isn’t the case.

 

[Flash]

Thomas is getting buzz from beat writers. Some coaches quotes:

“You could definitely see he had a different ability; they call it blowing the top off the coverage,’’ Diaz, now Miami’s head coach, said in a recent telephone interview. “And instantly all of our guys on defense just knew that you had to cover Jeff differently than you had to cover some of our other wide receivers.’’

“I think there’s no doubt that he [will] benefit in New England; I think he’d be a great match,’’ said Diaz. “I think Jeff wants structure, he wants discipline. He’s aware that there’s consequences to actions, and again that’s why New England can be a great fit for him.’’

Thomas’ up-and-down past crept into his combine evaluation, particularly as it related to his 40 time (4.45 seconds). Teams wondered if he trained hard enough before the most important job interview of his life.

On the field, Thomas’ former coaches compared him to the likes of Mecole Hardman, Tavon Austin and Isaiah McKenzie. He was described as “way quicker” than Hardman and a “freak” with his change of direction, ball skills and ability on gadget plays and kick and punt returns. And Thomas can be uncoverable in the slot against man coverage. But one coach said that will come to fruition only “if he gets his **** together.”

It's especially important to note that the kid became a father at a very young age, and he had difficulty balancing his family life and his football career, that was what caused him to miss practices during high school.

“I think Jeff does well with structure. I think Jeff does well with very clearly laid-out and articulated rules and consequences. For that reason, he and I never had a problem. Even if he felt there was something going on that wasn’t the way that it was explained to him, once he understood where the goalposts were, I thought he fit into our program very well. That doesn’t mean everyone does it perfectly. There are also guys who fight the rules and fight the discipline, and Jeff never did any of that." - Manny Diaz

"The Patriots do believe Thomas is a good guy who genuinely cares about football and his family, but he has too often marched to his own beat."

He's still a long-shot, but I'm rooting for this kid.

 

[BTTA]

Learning to be a disciplined professional football player, to the standards that the Patriots expect, is a challenge for someone who was given all the privileges and advantages of a strong, structured upbringing. For a guy like this who wasn't, its a long path.

There will probably be a couple of "moments of truth" for him that will make or break this experiment. For example, the first time he's late to a meeting, for a reason he doesn't consider his fault or responsibility ("traffic" or something like that), and gets told to leave by the coaching staff. How he interprets that and manages his emotional reaction will be huge.

We should all be rooting for him, 'cause if he can buck the odds and make this transition, he could be a star. He's been reported to be smart, so if he can learn from Jules over the next couple of years, wow.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

He's still a long-shot, but I'm rooting for this kid.

Agreed.

Everyone knows why he was supended but is not saying. Why? Sounds a lot like Josh Gordan.

 

[scott99]

I'm not holding out any hope for any of the UDFAs, they REALLY need to show out in camp and the preseason games. Thomas would be a pleasant surprise, this team could really use his explosiveness, something the offense is sorely lacking. But he received the lowest amount of guaranteed money of all of the UDFAs, that tells me something. If he makes it, great, if he doesn't, not going to lose any sleep. Certainly very talented, he's a 10 million dollar talent with quite possibly a $5 brain.

 

[jah]

Thomas' new best friends should be Edelman (learn the playbook, learn to be an NFL receiver), Slater (learn to be a professional) and J.C. Jackson (learn how to stop being a jacka** and make use of your incredible talents).

As far as I can tell, Jackson never even was a jackass. He got arrested for something he didn't do, beat the case, and his original college still wouldn't take him back. Sounds like he got screwed to me.