Ht – 6’4” Wt – 267lb Class – SR Age – 22
Career Statistics
2021 Stats – 71 tackles, 20.5 TFL, 10.5 Sacks, 1 FF, 0 PD (14 Games Played)
Career Stats – 155 tackles, 39 TFL, 20 Sacks, 1 FF, 2 PD (33 Games Played)
Attribute Breakdown
Power – Cameron Thomas plays with great physicality, but when it comes to functional strength, he isn’t nearly as powerful as he seems. He has the size and physicality to look the part, but he generated very little push and got moved on run plays often.
Pass-Rush Moves – Undeveloped to say the least. His arms flailed a lot, and while he was very active, he didn’t have planned or precise strikes. His size made it hard to spin past blockers or “get skinny”. Despite his massive production, his traits don’t project favorably.
Quickness & Burst – Explodes off the snap like a cannon. Thomas is explosive, and he plays with great speed. In open space, he is phenomenally fast for a D-Lineman. He isn’t exceptionally twitchy, but for his position, he has enough.
Lateral Agility – Average. He can move in space, and he redirects well. Still, although he didn’t run the 3-Cone drill at the Combine to confirm, he doesn’t project to be as quick and bendy as others in this class.
Play Recognition – Recognizes plays correctly, and he does well to direct his attacks to get him to the ball, but he takes some ill-advised guesses. This is concerning, as it leads to wonder if his quick diagnoses were just correct guesses.
Run Support – Got pushed way too often in run defense. He uses a good swim move to disengage blocks in the run game, but his lack of anchor and lower body strength made it hard for him to hold his ground. This will prevent him from playing Nose at the next level, or even from being a 3-down contributor at any position.
Tackling and Pursuit – Thomas uses a flawless wrap-up and finish, and as a result he hardly misses tackles. Using great speed, he eats up a ton of grass in pursuit and erases distances.
Motor – Thomas is tenacious, and he plays as such. It’s odd to see such poor lower body strength from a play with as high a motor as his.
Overall
Cameron Thomas racked up ridiculous numbers at San Diego State. From a purely statistical standpoint, he should be a highly coveted prospect. From a traits perspective, however, he is a questionable projection.
Few players look the part as much as Cameron Thomas does. He is a massive presence from the 5T, and he plays with a ton of physicality. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t nearly have the play-strength or anchor to match that intensity. He routinely got pushed aside to clear run lanes, and he struggled to generate push. He is an unrefined and unpolished prospect with middling strength. That is a hard idea to get behind.
Additionally, he isn’t polished or agile enough to play the edge, and he isn’t nearly heavy or powerful enough to play in the interior. He is likely limited exclusively to the 5T.
Still, there’s enough good to warrant a late Day 2 pick. He is explosive and quick, with great tackling ability. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a role for him in a defense, but projecting him to be a quality starter looks difficult.
See Cameron Thomas’s overall ranking among other players on my Big Board.
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