Matthew Thomas was one of the top high school recruits in the country in 2013 because of his size and athleticism at linebacker. But his mental mistakes both on and off the field at Florida State cost him as he went from being a top recruit to an undrafted free agent signed by the Steelers in 2018.
Considering that many saw the Steelers' biggest need going into the draft as an inside linebacker who could contribute in pass coverage, Thomas presents an interesting prospect as a player that will fight to make the roster. We take a look at his college tape to examine all that he will have to work on:
Thomas' best plays came when he was allowed to work freely in space and flash the athleticism that made him a highly-touted high school recruit.
His 4.58 time in the 40-yard dash placed him sixth among linebackers, right behind Tremaine Edmunds, a premier linebacker in the class. His time in the 3-cone drill was a 6.85, which was good for fourth among linebackers and one step ahead of Leighton Vander Esch, another top prospect. His 4.28 time in the 20-yard shuttle was good for 10th among linebackers.
All those times illustrate that, athletically, Thomas belonged in the discussion as a premier linebacker. His 40 time was good enough to chase down running backs, and both his 3-cone and 20-yard shuttle times exhibited that he had the agility to stop, turn and run as well as his competition.
Watch how he swats this pass against Boston College. He's smooth in his lateral movement, getting to the space and making a play on the ball:
Plays like that showed off Thomas' range and what he could do when he made the right read on a play. The problem with Thomas is that there were far too many moments when he made poor decisions, both schematically within a play, and in his behavior.
He served multiple suspensions in college, though one was due to academic ineligibility after his mother passed, and had several bone-headed plays on the field that came to define his NCAA career.
Take his only interception among his 34 games as a perfect example of that problem. Thomas showed off his athleticism by being able to drop back into space, find the tight end he was supposed to cover, and return an interception for the score.
Except, it wasn't really a touchdown.
As you can see in the play below, he celebrates and falls just short of the goal line. The officials later reviewed the play and determined he was short of the end zone:
Adding insult to injury, Thomas was penalized after the play for an excessive celebration. So when the touchdown was called back, the penalty took the ball from the 1-yard line to the 16.
Those are the types of unacceptable moments that plagued Thomas' career.
The schematic problems were visible too, especially when he was at the point of attack. Thomas may have led Florida State in tackles in both 2016 and 2017, but most of his biggest plays came when he was moving freely from the backside of the play. When at the point of attack, Thomas would falter.
Take this touchdown from Ole Miss in 2016, when Thomas is completely clean to read the play, but stops and gets swept up into traffic:
Thomas showed he could flow to his gap, but often looked uncertain about how to attack once he was there. And if there was a blocker in the way, he often would take a poor approach on how to handle him.
Watch here in the 2016 Orange Bowl where he flows down the line and has a one-on-one with the tight end, but instead of keeping his head up and dominating the space, Thomas puts his head down and throws his shoulder.
Though he knocked the tight end out of the play, he lost control of his gap, which ultimately led to a touchdown:
The ability to take on blockers is a teachable trait, but it's also one which good players pick up on naturally. Thomas has not done that yet.
Here he is in the same game with a clear shot on the fullback. He gets cut with a low block and blown out of the hole:
In that situation, you want your inside linebacker to be able to maintain his spot in the hole by keeping his head up, and using his hands to shove the blocker that's going low into the ground, while keeping his feet clear so he can still make the play.
We covered an example of how to do this the right way in our pre-draft study of Vander Esch.
The reasons Thomas wasn't drafted are apparent when you look at his film, but the raw athleticism is there to be molded into a better player. Mental mistakes on the field were a problem for Vince Williams when he came out of Florida State in 2013 as well, which was why he was a sixth-round pick.
If Thomas can make the bottom of the roster, or at least the practice squad, he will have the opportunity to learn and improve on the traits that made him a liability in college. But that is a very big hill to climb.
