Move Dontarrious Thomas to DE?

This might be dumb or crazy. I had a thought the other day. Dontarrious Thomas is our 2nd round draft pick from a couple years ago. He's been a backup at LB. He has lots of speed and he is strong. He can't get on the field much as a linebacker. We could use a good, fast defensive end who can sack the quarterback. Can Dontarrious Thomas become a good defensive end at this point?

Thomas is a free agent. He'll probably sign with another team unless we resign him. We'd have to spend a little extra on him to try this next season.

What do you think?

He's way too light to play defensive end in the NFL. If he gained 30 pounds and kept his speed he'd be pretty nasty though.

one hard part that I found when I got moved from linebacker to DE was the difference in assignments. Linebackers usually aren't trained to fire off of the line of scrimmage, but rather read the play and do a fast flow. DE's are more explosive off of the line, and have much different assignments than those of linbackers. I'm sure he is a great athlete, and could be used on passing situations only, but is worth keeping him on the team, out of position, and used sparingly?

High risk, low reward.
We'd be better off spending a 2nd on a natural passrushing DE.

Interesting question...

He is what would generally be considered to be too light.
He's listed at 241 lbs.
Compare that to the 300-350 lb. behomeths that he would have to face.
Another comparison is to other speed rushing defensive ends.
Even the small guys are at least 260 lbs. (Kearse, Suggs, Robison...).


That being said, the guy is almost as strong as Robison based soley on draft stats (26 bench reps for Thomas, 27 for Robison).
With several years of NFL training under his belt, I'd say he's probably stronger now.

There's also the issue that even though Thomas is fast, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's got a quick first step that you need to be a big time pass rusher.

But the biggest reason I can think of for not moving him is that he doesn't have the experience using his hands or rushing from a 3-point stance.
It's not as simple as just a few weeks of practice to learn that stuff.

So, I'd say no.

I hope he winds up in the Green and Gold.. the dude was a monster in college, anyone know why he has struggled with the Vikes?

"pack93z" wrote:

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I hope he winds up in the Green and Gold.. the dude was a monster in college, anyone know why he has struggled with the Vikes?

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i dont think that hes struggled, when given the chance he makes plays... i think he recorded a vikes record with like 16 tackles in a game

"pack93z" wrote:

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I hope he winds up in the Green and Gold.. the dude was a monster in college, anyone know why he has struggled with the Vikes?

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All of our linebackers were terrible before we got decent coaching at the position a few years ago.
Tice and his staff kept drafting these talented LBs that 'just need to be coached up.'
Without the coaching they looked bad.
Couldn't defend the pass to save their lives.
Getting back far enough in zone was just beyond them.


With good coaching, Thomas has been fine the past couple of years, but Leber and Henderson have been standouts and obviously the franchise is invested in Greenway, who is also a good player.
I hope we can keep Thomas though, we'll see.

That's my take anyway.

maybe he could become the next Chris Doleman... he started out as a LB.

D.Thom is a beast.. he's fast, strong and good for the position he plays.

if you move him to another position now. i'm sure he'd be able to build and make it, but it would again take time. He's doin well now, and honestly in my opinion you can never have enouf LB's.

they get hurt, they get in trouble.. anything can happen. Keep DT.. he'll get his chances, and he'll gt his chance to shine. and if he does. watch as we solidify what was once considered our weak point just a few years ago.

DiGiTaL