Green Bay Packers LB Joe Thomas should earn role

By Keegan Matheson | May 16, 2015

As the Green Bay Packers look to repair their inside linebacker position entering 2015, it is easy to become short-sighted. The quick roster turnaround that has taken place at the position sets eyes squarely on the new arrival of Michigan’s Jake Ryan, but linebacker Joe Thomas, a holdover from the Green Bay Packers’ 2014 undrafted free agent class, should push for a prominent depth role out of camp.

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Now 24 years old, Thomas is getting a well-earned second chance to crack the Packers’ 53-man roster. After making some serious noise throughout training camp in 2014 and creating a legitimate case for a spot as a rookie, a knee injury in the preseason ended Thomas’ year prematurely. Impressed by his audition, though, Ted Thompson retained Thomas later in 2014 with an eye towards this coming season.

Sam Barrington will likely be joined by Jake Ryan to start 2015 on the inside, but along with 2014 draftee Carl Bradford, the door is wide open for Joe Thomas to earn a complimentary role within Dom Capers’ defense. The Packers’ 2014 season shows us that Green Bay may need several quality options at the position, too.

Following the weak performances of A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones, now both departed, Sam Barrington and Clay Matthews took over the inside linebacker position to balance the defense. What did not receive enough attention, however, is the fact that Jamari Lattimore, originally their fourth option at the position, started five games throughout the game of musical chairs.

Thomas enters as the unknown, partly due to his small-school background and partly due to the presence of another Joe Thomas trumping his search engine results. As with many undrafted free agents on the Packers, the club chose to seek production, instincts and football intelligence over raw physical projections.

Standing at just 6’1″ and 230 pounds, Thomas is relatively undersized for the position, but his measurables are not far outside the Packers’ physical prototype at linebacker, which I outlined prior to the 2015 NFL Draft. His long speed and initial burst do not jump out at you either, but Thomas excels with a decisive and punishing playing style.

In his final season with the South Carolina State Bulldogs, Thomas recorded 115 total tackles, 19.0 tackles for losses, 7.5 sacks and one interception. This was good enough to earn him the MEAC Defensive Player of the Year award.

As with any non-star on this Packers roster, Thomas’ ticket to a spot on the 53-man list will be his play on special teams. This is said every offseason in all 32 NFL cities, but it holds greater value than ever in Green Bay as Mike McCarthy looks to correct a unit that was among the league’s worst in 2014.

In his profile of Thomas for FOX Sports, Paul Imig notes that the linebacker considered himself a “special teams guru” during his first two seasons in college, but had those duties scaled back for his final two campaigns as he became the focus of their defensive scheme. As a sure tackler and downhill attacker, Thomas also possesses the mentality required to shine with that unit.

Assuming that the existing crop of inside linebackers is talented enough to push Clay Matthews back outside, which it absolutely should be, then two reserve spots are ripe for the picking. The Packers may not rely on Thomas as a starter, but as 2014 showed us, the Packers will need him eventually.

Next: Packers hoping for breakthrough from Hubbard

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