2012 NFL Draft Oregon Player Profile: Darron Thomas

Going into the 2012 NFL Draft, the Oregon Ducks have twelve players entering the draft. One of the most talked about of the Oregon players in the 2012 NFL Draft has to be Darron Thomas. There are many people who were surprised to hear the news that Darron Thomas was going to forgo a senior year at Oregon and enter the 2012 NFL Draft. With a very productive 2011 season ending with a Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin, Thomas threw for 2,761 yards and 33 touchdowns and also ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns. Surprising or not, Darron Thomas will be waiting this year to see if his name will be called in the 2012 NFL Draft. I will go over what I feel Thomas’ strengths and weaknesses are going into the NFL Draft and what NFL team I feel can benefit the most from Thomas being on their team.

One of the most important strengths in which Darron Thomas has coming into the 2012 NFL Draft has to be his ability to run and manage the offense. While at Oregon, Thomas ran a offense that was dependent on the quarterback controlling the pace and making sure the ball got into the hands of the playmakers on the team without making big mistakes. In the 2011 season, Thomas only threw seven interceptions and his career high at Oregon was nine in the 2010 season. By having to run the Oregon offense during his time at the school, Thomas developed the ability to make quick decisions with the football. He can throw the ball very accurately in the short to medium range game, but can run just as well as he can throw. However, one weakness that Darron Thomas has going into the 2012 NFL Draft is his throwing motion. It is good that Thomas releases the ball at a high point, but he has a lot of wasted motion in his throws that can delay the timing of routes. Even though Thomas’ throwing motion is not as bad as one Tim Tebow, this is definitely something in which Thomas must address as he matures in the NFL because NFL defensive backs are more dangerous than the ones Thomas saw in college. Upon tweaking his throwing motion, Thomas will also need to work on becoming more accurate in longer throws. The better NFL quarterbacks need to be able to make longer throws and be able to pin-point them into tight spots.

Some might believe that Darron Thomas came out of college at the wrong time. With the buzz of Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III, there is a huge drop off after you get past the first three quarterbacks in the 2012 NFL Draft. After one gets past the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington Redskins, there are only two teams in the NFL that need a quarterback to step in on the first day. Those two teams are the Cleveland Browns and the Miami Dolphins. In my opinion, one of these will draft a quarterback in the first round. I believe that will be the Cleveland Browns and they will draft Ryan Tannehill in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Because for this, I am saying the Miami Dolphins will trade their 8th overall pick and look to draft a quarterback later in the draft. I believe Darron Thomas could be the quarterback in which the Miami Dolphins will draft to be their guy. Right now, the Miami Dolphins have David Garrard and Matt Moore on the roster, but Darron Thomas is not the guy to step right in on day one. The reason why I feel Thomas could fit well in Miami is because of the potential the team shows. I believe that Davis Garrard and Darron Thomas are somewhat similar players. I say this because both Garrard and Thomas have the ability to throw and run the ball very effectively. The biggest difference is that Darron Thomas has the ability to run an offense better than Garrard. I feel as if the Miami Dolphins can put a system in place to where Garrard can “keep the seat warm” for when Thomas is ready to take over as quarterback in Miami.

For more 2012 NFL Draft coverage, check out my podcast The Onside Kick. The Onside Kick covers all the biggest stories in the NBA, NCAA Basketball, NFL, NCAA Football, and MLB.

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