Ian Thomas?

[beastson]

I haven't heard a single thing about him. Am I missing something or is he just MIA?

[Seltzer]

He has been recovering from an injury that made him miss all the OTA's, and the team has been easing him back in.

My understanding though is that he has been practicing in training camp and has been (quietly) making some plays.

Believe I have read he has made several TD catches among others, mostly with the 2nd team.

Firmly entrenched as the #2 TE behind Olsen

[Moo Daeng]

Unless the player gets those annoying slow motion highlights nobody thinks they exist 

[Moo Daeng]

Reading the camp accounts in the Observer he's getting regular mentions. I wish we had better coverage about how players look than simple bullet points of catches, passes, etc

[Rubi]

Olsen

[ellis]

Thomas looks like he did last year. He’s basically another WR. Seriously, he’s not there for much else. He still struggling a bit with getting leverage on run blocks. I’ve seen him a couple times in max protect doing a good job against the blitz. He’s a great matchup problem for opposing defenses flexed out, or in the old Dallas Clark slot position. He won’t be mauling anybody in the running game anytime soon, but he’s there for situational matchups. I’ve also seen 80 get a good ass chewing from Chase Blackburn on special teams a few times. 

Sorry if I haven’t touched on Thomas enough. We did a whole piece on the pass catchers a few weeks ago and featured him quite a bit. I’ll continue to keep an eye on him, and will report what I see. 

 

 

[rayzor]

He looked good today. Didn't see much in the way of blocking but he was catching passes. 

[ellis]

14 minutes ago, rayzor said:

He looked good today. Didn't see much once he way of blocking but he was catching passes. 

Absolutely. I saw what you saw. He torched Hawkins (backup CB) on an out route. He’s fast. 

I wrote about his production a few weeks back. Won’t spam the link here, but here’s the excerpt: 

After seeing just one target over a seven-game stretch, Thomas put on a clinic over the season’s final five games: 25 receptions, 246 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Extrapolated, this stretch of metrics would result in a full season with 80 receptions and 787 yards.

[GoobyPls]

2 hours ago, ellis said:

Thomas looks like he did last year. He’s basically another WR. Seriously, he’s not there for much else. He still struggling a bit with getting leverage on run blocks. I’ve seen him a couple times in max protect doing a good job against the blitz. He’s a great matchup problem for opposing defenses flexed out, or in the old Dallas Clark slot position. He won’t be mauling anybody in the running game anytime soon, but he’s there for situational matchups. I’ve also seen 80 get a good ass chewing from Chase Blackburn on special teams a few times. 

Sorry if I haven’t touched on Thomas enough. We did a whole piece on the pass catchers a few weeks ago and featured him quite a bit. I’ll continue to keep an eye on him, and will report what I see. 

 

 

You basically described Olsen as a blocker.

[Navy_football]

4 hours ago, GoobyPls said:

You basically described Olsen as a blocker.

Even as a rookie, Ian Thomas was a better blocker than Greg. I love Olsen but he may be the least physical blocker on the team. 

[BrianS]

I am assuming that Ian Thomas was brought in to replace Olsen eventually.  That's a pass catching TE, not a blocking TE.  We have Manhertz if we need a blocker with a mild pass catching threat.  As such, he's progressing nicely given where he was picked.

[KillerKat]

Best TE3 in the league

[dxpanther]

9 hours ago, ellis said:

Thomas looks like he did last year. He’s basically another WR. Seriously, he’s not there for much else. He still struggling a bit with getting leverage on run blocks. I’ve seen him a couple times in max protect doing a good job against the blitz. He’s a great matchup problem for opposing defenses flexed out, or in the old Dallas Clark slot position. He won’t be mauling anybody in the running game anytime soon, but he’s there for situational matchups. I’ve also seen 80 get a good ass chewing from Chase Blackburn on special teams a few times. 

Sorry if I haven’t touched on Thomas enough. We did a whole piece on the pass catchers a few weeks ago and featured him quite a bit. I’ll continue to keep an eye on him, and will report what I see. 

 

 

strange, i thought coming out of college his run blocking skills were supposed to be the strongest part of his game and he needed to work on the route running and pass catching.

[Navy_football]

1 hour ago, dxpanther said:

strange, i thought coming out of college his run blocking skills were supposed to be the strongest part of his game and he needed to work on the route running and pass catching.

Seriously, I don't get this "not a good blocker" stuff being thrown around regarding Thomas. He isn't a mauler, but he's always been a willing blocker that isn't afraid to stick his nose in there and be physical. I've seen him miss blocks or get beat with a move, but never just manhandled into the play. That happens to Greg a lot.