T1B

http://espn.go.com/nfl/draft2012/story/ ... nter-draft

Darron Thomas signs with agent

EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas is skipping his senior season to enter the NFL draft.

Thomas made the announcement, which caught many by surprise, on Saturday night. He follows Oregon running back LaMichael James, who announced last week that he would skip his final year of eligibility.

In particular, this is really puzzling...

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id ... t-decision

A source close to Thomas told ESPN's Joe Schad that Thomas knew he would have to fight off backup Bryan Bennett for the starting job this spring and felt it was time to leave.

Two reactions.

•USC just became the strong front-runner in the Pac-12.

•And Thomas actually declared himself available for free agency, because he's unlikely to be drafted.

Did he really leave just because he feared having to compete for his starting gig, despite being 23-3 as a starter for Oregon, including their first Rose Bowl victory since WWI? With that sort of resume, who ever loses their job?

And this just cracked me up...

Beyond the fact that he was a spread-option and not a pro-style QB, NFL scouts are likely to question Thomas' mechanics and accuracy.

As they do with every black QB who ran the spread in college—and who ends up going undrafted—while the exact same description perfectly describes Tim Tebow, who, well...

Does the name "Cam Newton" ring a bell?

Do the names "every black QB not named Cam Newton who ran the spread or the option and who had questionable mechanics" ring a bell? There have only been about a bazillion of those guys.

Cam Newton was the decided exception, simply because of his size and powerful arm. Also, while it's true that he didn't run a pro-style offense in college, his throwing mechanics weren't jacked up like Tebow's.

Ponderous, to say the least.

I agree with everyone not name Thomas, or an agent for Thomas.

Just not seeing any NFL team saying "we gotta have this guy."

On his plus side, his mechanics aren't bad at all, and despite the stats, his accuracy is pretty good (far from "great"). His biggest asset, by far, is his field-smarts -- rarely takes a bad risk, knows when to tuck it and take his lumps, and when to throw it into the student section. He understands that a sack costs 5-10 yards, a pick/fumble can cost the game.

The minuses -- he plays in a spread-option. Unless one of 31 teams says "damn, we're sure jealous of Denver's offense, and we're going to mimic it," I don't see the demand.

I'm not saying he doesn't have the skillset to adapt to an NFL offense, but why would any team put that kind of time into developing him, when thre's more pro-style guys available?

On MY plus side -- Darron will be sorely missed, but he did miss time this past season... and Bennett, while far from a seasoned vet, was actually the better player (which isn't even sacrlege to say in Duck Country) -- better arm, better legs, and got some valuable game experience this season.

A little early for USC and Kal fans to be counting their chickens -- the Ducks aren't losing much besides experience, and the opponents are going to be facing a better QB. Don't you worry -- the cannon is still well-loaded.

But it's still a head-scratcher move by Thomas (who either has a degree, or gets one this term after a redshirt year, so academics aren't at issue).

It’s a brilliant move really. If Denver is going with Tebow, they can’t have a classic pocket passer for a backup, as they’d have to maintain two entirely different playbooks. Denver can get him later in the draft, and kid will draw a paycheck for a few years.

Sudden Sam wrote:I don't think Thomas' off-the-field indiscretions will impress NFL teams.

Wha?

Those were brilliant. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time, yet never got so much as a jaywalking ticket, while everyone else got sent packing?

Sounds like a tribute to his leadership skills to me.

Dinsdale wrote:

Sudden Sam wrote:I don't think Thomas' off-the-field indiscretions will impress NFL teams.

Wha?

Those were brilliant. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time, yet never got so much as a jaywalking ticket, while everyone else got sent packing?

Sounds like a tribute to his leadership skills to me.

Or his escapability.

Maybe Phil Knight is just quietly trying to get the Texas players out of the program (and from under the NCAA's rule) with the Lyles investigation still on going. Thomas will be drawing Nike checks to keep quiet on the amount of Nike money that is flowing through that program and reaching the players and those "influencing" the players.

Funny that with all the complaints the NCAA had about Snoop being at USC games, Snoop never delivered a recruit to USC the way his son delivered DeAnthony Thomas to Oregon, even accompanied him on his recruiting trip.... what does the NCAA have to say about boosters accompanying recruits on recruiting trips and then loading the recruit up with a thousand dollars worth of gear? Should be an interesting investigation.