Cleveland Browns: Comprehensive 2018 NFL Draft review

Simeon Thomas, DB – Louisiana-Lafayette

With the final pick of their draft, the Browns used the well traveled 188th pick to select Simeon Thomas, corner out of Louisiana-Lafayette. Thomas was one of their last player visits they conducted.

Athletic Profile

Age: 24 years old (Born Sep. 22, 1993)

Height: 6-3
Weight: 197 lbs
40 Yard Dash: 4.46s
Broad Jump: 11’3″
Vertical: 39″
3-Cone: 7s
Shuttle: 4.28s
Bench: 4 reps

Thomas has a good athletic profile. He’s fast, explosive and has decent agility. Obviously he’s very tall for a corner and he has extremely long arms, measuring 35 inches. He’s got the wingspan of a power forward. The issue for Thomas that stands out is his age. Player outcomes tend to decline once players hit 24 years old and he’s five months from 25.

While many will look at his arm length and excuse his bench press number being so low, it doesn’t suggest he’s been working hard in the weight room and he’s almost 25. He’s very skinny.

Production

Career Starts: 22

Solo Tackles: 57 (5.6 percent)
Pass Defections: 17 (22.6 percent)
Interceptions: 2 (10.5 percent)

From a production standpoint, Thomas has a lot of similarities to Ward. His pass deflection market share is excellent and his solo tackle market share isn’t as good, but more than adequate. Thomas has the production that could be a Pro Bowl type player, but factoring in his age and his schedule may reduce that projection a little bit.

Game Tape

Thomas has experience playing in off man coverage as well as some zone looks. He likes to employ that drop shuffle technique allowing him a two-way go while giving him the ability to keep his eyes on the play.

So much about Thomas is about effort. When he brings the effort, he can be a nice player, particularly as a tackler. At times, he just doesn’t seem to be feeling it, especially against receiver blocks, but then he’ll suddenly make a big tackle in the backfield on a quick screen.

He’s so long and awkward so when he gets juked, he falls down like a baby giraffe. He does use those long arms to wrap up opponents and drive his legs on contact and is more powerful than some might expect. His gait is unusually long, so he has incredible speed but looks like he’s moving in slow motion.

His hips aren’t great, but with his size and length they aren’t awful either. Thomas isn’t targeted all that often. Opposing quarterbacks seem to avoid him quite a bit, which may be a compliment to him. However, teams love to go at him if they can get a pass to that side and force him to try to make the tackle.

Next: 2019 NFL Mock Draft: Way too early projection for next year

Fit, Usage and Projection with the Browns

The Browns say he’s gonna be a corner and the initial impression is wondering how he can possibly it. There are corners that don’t figure to be on the roster sooner than later, but even accounting for them, it’s not going to be easy for Thomas to make the team.

Aside from that, the assumption is they love his length and speed combined with his familiarity with defensive coverages they like to run. He might be uniquely equipped to deal with taller, fast receivers that could challenge the Browns down the field. The matchup that stands out for Thomas is Martavis Bryant of the Pittsburgh Steelers, except he was traded the day before to the Oakland Raiders.

It seems like a longshot to make the roster for Thomas, but they might like him for the practice squad as there simply may not be a ton of demand for a soon to be 25-year rookie corner with Thomas’s makeup.