A service of TechSideline.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas Progressing Faster than Expected by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com, TSLMail #481, April 22, 2011 Logan Thomas has put up impressive numbers for Virginia Tech so far this spring. Though three mini-scrimmages and two full scrimmages, Thomas has put up big passing numbers while throwing just one interception. Here's a look at the scrimmage-by-scrimmage numbers.
Despite being rated the #1 tight end recruit in the country coming out of high school, Thomas has been a quarterback since his junior season in high school. He was a wide receiver for Brookville during his sophomore year, catching over 50 passes, but began taking snaps as a junior and never looked back. He was not regarded as a quarterback recruit coming out of high school because he had a long release, and his accuracy was a question mark. He completed just 52.9% of his passes as a junior, though that number improved to 57.8% as a senior. His early work as a quarterback at Tech was inconsistent, as it is with most young quarterbacks. In a backup role last year, he completed just 12-of-26 passes, a 46.2% mark. Mike O'Cain noted earlier in the spring that his biggest concern with Thomas was his accuracy. That hasn't turned out to be a problem, as Thomas has completed 57.1% of his passes this spring. If you throw out that one mini-scrimmage, Thomas is 32-of-53 (60.4%) for 502 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions. That's a quarterback rating of 164.8, which would have ranked in the top 10 nationally in 2010. Through five scrimmages, his accuracy and completion percentage has been better than expected. Most of his incompletions have come on deep balls or throwaways under pressure. His short and intermediate passing has been very good thus far. In the last mini-scrimmage, he showed that he could complete short, finesse touchdown passes, placing the ball perfectly over the top of the defense. For a guy who wasn't supposed to be a quarterback on the college level, Logan Thomas is looking pretty advanced so far, and he's only entering his third year in the program. A lot of credit has to go to quarterbacks coach Mike O'Cain, who is used to coaching tall, pocket passers such as Thomas. Thomas will have an opportunity to compete against five other former Virginia high school quarterbacks who will be starting for other ACC schools. All of them were regarded as pure quarterbacks during the recruiting process. They are: E.J. Manuel (Florida State), Bryn Renner (UNC), Mike Glennon (NC State), Mike Rocco (UVA) and Tajh Boyd (Clemson). Thomas wasn't recruited as a quarterback by most schools, but physically he is as good or better than anyone on that list. He's already developed quite a bit in a short period of time. Hopefully the development continues.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Virginia Tech Fighting Gobbler Trucker Hat: $19.99
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TechSideline.com Updates From the Past Week | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TSLMail is a trademark
of TechSideline.com - Copyright © 2011 - All Rights Reserved To unsubscribe from this email, reply with the word "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject. |