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Is Shamarko Thomas really any good?

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RollRed

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I've heard nothing but praise for this young man since we drafted him, but I gotta admit.... I ain't seein' it....
Most of the press on this guy has been good. I've read and heard about how great his work ethic is, how mature he is having had to be the guardian for his younger siblings, how focused he is blah blah blah. Can he ******* play!? That's all I care about and so far... Meh? One of the big selling points on him was how good of a hitter he is... which would be fine if defensive players were still allowed to hit people. Unfortunately those days are gone. To be a good safety in today's NFL means you can cover and you can tackle. I really hope the light comes on soon for this guy, not only because I'm a Steeler fan but also because he really does seem like the kind of guy you want to see succeed if the things said about his character as a person are true. Plus he has a cool-*** name....
 
RollRed said:
To be a good safety in today's NFL means you can cover and you can tackle.
Click to expand...
Since we haven't seen much of him on the field, I like to refer to his college tape to get some idea of what we can anticipate from him. I think the tackling part is not an issue, and Thomas can lay the wood just fine.

What does seem troubling are the coverage skills. If you cue this vid to 1:40 they highlight his weaknesses, he seems out of position and trailing on plays down the field. Just like that long TD he gave up last week. That's the part that bums me out...that he's more of an in-the-box safety and he's going to get exposed big time on plays down the field. That's basically what was happening with Troy anyway, but the idea was that we're going to be better on D this year. I don't know how realistic that is. Ironically enough, Shamarko seems to play the slot pretty well, is better in short area than in open field. Maybe they need to look at someone else to play back there with Mitchell, who's also a huge friggin question mark, and move Thomas closer to the LOS in certain packages, in the nickel LB spot Troy played at times. Coach Butler has got a lot on his plate, that's for sure...and he's running out of time...

 
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?????? We're about to find out. I'm agreeing with Tibs that this guy is not the answer when it comes to deep coverage down the field. Better in the box type of player. The bigger question though is what the **** has happened to our player evaluation and scouting? We're bringing guys in here that after two, three years don't seem to be able to play at this level. Man just go down the list over the last 8-9 drafts and its mind boggling. And the F/A's as well. Mitchell has more excuses than tackles. I haven't even mentioned the Dri Archer debacle or the total miss on Uncle Jarvis.
 
I was never a fan of his "tackling." Sure he lays the wood, but his form is poor and he is wreckless with his body. He is already injured constantly and he has not even really played yet. I would have thought that the coaches would have tried to correct his flaws, but so far I have not really seen it. Now he cant seem to cover very well so I do not think he is the answer. waves hand These are not the safeties we are looking for
 
RollRed said:
I've heard nothing but praise for this young man since we drafted him, but I gotta admit.... I ain't seein' it....
Most of the press on this guy has been good. I've read and heard about how great his work ethic is, how mature he is having had to be the guardian for his younger siblings, how focused he is blah blah blah. Can he ******* play!? That's all I care about and so far... Meh? One of the big selling points on him was how good of a hitter he is... which would be fine if defensive players were still allowed to hit people. Unfortunately those days are gone. To be a good safety in today's NFL means you can cover and you can tackle. I really hope the light comes on soon for this guy, not only because I'm a Steeler fan but also because he really does seem like the kind of guy you want to see succeed if the things said about his character as a person are true. Plus he has a cool-*** name....
Click to expand...

You certainly didn't read that here.
 
The honest answer is: we don't know.

Time will tell


Amen
 
I'm willing to give him a chance because of his work ethic. However, we've seen absolutely nothing from him up until this point. I have no clue what to expect, but based on what we've seen so far, my expectations aren't as high as they used to be (which was only average starter at best).
 
Spike said:
The honest answer is: we don't know.

Time will tell


Amen
Click to expand...

To this point he's been Just A Guy. He's adequate, no bad, not real good. I'll take adequate over bad (Jarvis).
 
Nothing special and again undersized which is a detriment in the passing game.
 
Bell 26 said:
Nothing special and again undersized which is a detriment in the passing game.
Click to expand...

Tombert does not abide DB's taller than 5'10". You're new here. Welcome to SN. :beer:
 
What is with the undersized love afair this drafting team has? It baffles me.
 
Archer is small - Archer is Fast. Therefore the smaller the player the faster the player will be. Taller bigger player = slower player.

"Fast player that plays below average > Good player with average speed" Mike Tomlin
 
Tibs said:
Since we haven't seen much of him on the field, I like to refer to his college tape to get some idea of what we can anticipate from him. I think the tackling part is not an issue, and Thomas can lay the wood just fine.

What does seem troubling are the coverage skills. If you cue this vid to 1:40 they highlight his weaknesses, he seems out of position and trailing on plays down the field. Just like that long TD he gave up last week. That's the part that bums me out...that he's more of an in-the-box safety and he's going to get exposed big time on plays down the field. That's basically what was happening with Troy anyway, but the idea was that we're going to be better on D this year. I don't know how realistic that is. Ironically enough, Shamarko seems to play the slot pretty well, is better in short area than in open field. Maybe they need to look at someone else to play back there with Mitchell, who's also a huge friggin question mark, and move Thomas closer to the LOS in certain packages, in the nickel LB spot Troy played at times. Coach Butler has got a lot on his plate, that's for sure...and he's running out of time...

Click to expand...


The point you need to take note of in this video is at the 1:50 mark....Syracuse is in a Cover 2 Defense and he bites on the play action and Shamarko doesn't even see the TE coming out wide open to his right and pick him up downfield and he fails to flow back to cover the receiver who is wide open for the TD.

I believe we just saw similar play from him in the last two weeks vs Green Bay & Buffalo....so prepare to see the worst Steelers Defense in 50 years folks! It's only 8 days away!
 
Ron Burgundy said:
To this point he's been Just A Guy. He's adequate, no bad, not real good. I'll take adequate over bad (Jarvis).
Click to expand...

So we'll see if Butler's defense that has him playing at the LOS can hold up in passing situations with LB's & DE's playing behind him

I just want a safety actually playing deep and not giving up the 60 yarders - is that too much to ask?
 
so a quicker version of lee flowers
 
and then I found this nugget


Tomlin said starters “won't play or have very limited participation” in Thursday night's preseason finale against Carolina at Heinz Field.

One of those who apparently won't play is free safety Mike Mitchell (ankle).

When asked that Mitchell and new safety partner Shamarko Thomas have had limited game reps together, Tomlin termed it “concerning,” but added,
“I expect those guys to be above the line"

http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/...#axzz3kY7SGRz9
 
RollRed said:
I've heard nothing but praise for this young man since we drafted him, but I gotta admit.... I ain't seein' it....
Most of the press on this guy has been good. I've read and heard about how great his work ethic is, how mature he is having had to be the guardian for his younger siblings, how focused he is blah blah blah. Can he ******* play!? That's all I care about and so far... Meh? One of the big selling points on him was how good of a hitter he is... which would be fine if defensive players were still allowed to hit people. Unfortunately those days are gone. To be a good safety in today's NFL means you can cover and you can tackle. I really hope the light comes on soon for this guy, not only because I'm a Steeler fan but also because he really does seem like the kind of guy you want to see succeed if the things said about his character as a person are true. Plus he has a cool-*** name....
Click to expand...

No. He has made zero plays on the ball as a pro. Not one pass defended, not one interception. Due to his style of play he's flag prone. His lack of height is a concern as well for jump balls, high passes, the side line or in the red zone. Injuries have also been an issue.

Based on the pre-season he has a low football IQ. I saw him sprint sideways like Forrest Gump on a play where the ball was deep and over the middle.

He's a good in the box safety vs. the run who can hit. But that part of the game is less important these days.
 
I agree Hurt our drafts the past 8-9 years have been pathetic to say the least. I mean just looking at our most recent drafts of Jarvis and now Dupree these 1st round players just don't seem to have that "it" factor. Our scouting department has not had much luck at all with bringing in big league NFL caliber talent to this roster over the past 8-9 years and that is why we are at a quandry. We finally have a legit top 3 offense (that we as fans have been clamoring for)during Big Ben's peak years along with a decent. It is sad that our FO has overspent on the likes of Kemoeatu, Lamaar just to name a few and then shiet the bed our drafts as well. Hell we could have had the stud OLB from the patriots or even moved up in the draft to nab Marcus Peters this year ahead of dupree by moving up a few spots. All I am saying is our drafts have all been below average at best. All we really seem to have an eye for talent are WR but we need Colbert and his staff to find defensive players that are above solid in doing their jobs on our defense for us to have a legit shot at advancing in the playoffs. It is a sad state of affairs on our defense right now. I hope Lake can work his magic and I hope tomlin allows lake to play the best 11 no matter if they are rookies, rookie undrafted or whatever. Just get the best 11 on the field at the same time. I was hoping we would bring in Tim Jennings (cb) he would have been an instant instant upgrade over Blake at right corner. I am still optomistic but JJ has bust all over him and Shamarko looks utterly lost out there.....we shall see soon because the bullets will be flying live soon enough.
 
And what makes matters worse, Tomlin and Colbert were just rewarded with a 2 year extension. Oh yeah, I forgot. We are defending AFC North Champs. Maybe we should have shirts and hats made up like the Bungles for that fine distinction. Seems like the bar has been lowered and that title is what's important now. Ask yourselves this question. Do you really have confidence that these two can draft well enough, procure the right free agents and make the best decisions that will ever land this football team back in the SB?
 
Dupree will be fine. Jarvis is a big question mark, so are the safeties.
 
Won't take long to find out, week 1 is in 8 days
 
I think Bud Dupree will turn out just fine as well. Uncle Jarvis, no I do not think he has what it takes to play at this level and he won't make it to a 2'nd contract. Mitchell and Thomas I have major concerns. We shall see.
 
Spike said:
So we'll see if Butler's defense that has him playing at the LOS can hold up in passing situations with LB's & DE's playing behind him

I just want a safety actually playing deep and not giving up the 60 yarders - is that too much to ask?
Click to expand...

Hence the Holliman pick. I hope he makes the final 53...
 
skline00 said:
God it's going to be ugly for us in Foxboro and worse than ugly if Brady plays.
Click to expand...

Wonder what the money line on Pats 1st offensive play being a TD is, might be worth throwing a 20 down on
 
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