Andrew Thomas Shows Great Transition Vs Speed To Power
As we head into the 2023 NFL Draft, here’s a look back at Andrew Thomas. His ability to transition vs speed to power pass rush is what they all will be looking for on draft day. Over the next several days we will continue to look back at drafted players to dissect how they were able to make an impact with their new teams during their rookie season.
Let’s now turn our attention towards the offensive line. This is a spot many teams drafted early with the hope that a young player can make an immediate contribution. Last year, the first OL off the board was LT Andrew Thomas to the Giants. Let’s examine a pass set vs. Washington here.
In this rep, Thomas is going against a really wide pass rusher. This can be challenging for tackles. Tackles have to set aggressively in order to avoid getting beat around the edge. However, if they are over-aggressive they may open up the inside gap, leaving themselves vulnerable to an inside move. Here, Thomas smoothly sets and gets himself in position to cut off the rush.
The pass rusher here elects to convert speed to power and try to knock Andrew Thomas back into the QB. But Thomas does a nice job of sinking his hips to absorb the contact, then executes a hop-step back to stop the bull-rush in its tracks.
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Once he has his screws back in the ground with the rusher’s momentum stopped, Thomas goes on the attack. He drives forward and winds up flat-backing the rusher.
This is a nice rep from a young player, displaying the ability to anchor and finish aggressively.
