Pro Football Weekly and Riddell present ...
2002 NFL draft
Jets nab speedy defensive end
Thomas gives opponents another nightmare in the pass rush
By Andy Hanacek, Associate editor
April 20, 2002
|
| Over the past year, we’ve seen Jets head coach Herman Edwards
restructure his defense to meet his desires and meet the salary cap. The latest Jets’
draft pick, Alabama-Birmingham DE Bryan Thomas, fits well in Edwards’ defensive
system. Thomas is almost exclusively a speed rusher, and he’ll give the Jets an
amazingly fast one-two punch at defensive end with John Abraham on the other side. The
only questionable quality in Thomas is his lack of size against the run. Thomas isn’t
very big and isn’t much of a factor defending the run. That doesn’t bode so well
for the Jets, who ranked a paltry 28th against the run last season.
But there is a ray of hope. When Abraham first entered the league in 2000, he was
considered a straight speed rusher who wasn’t so great against the run, just like
Thomas today. After being hurt most of his first season, Abraham had to learn on the fly
in 2001. And under the tutelage of defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell and DL coach Rubin
Carter, who were brought in prior to the 2001 season by then-new head coach Edwards,
Abraham developed very, very nicely into a more well-rounded player.
Throw Thomas into this mix, and I think you’ll have a very, very good player on
the other side of the line. Even though the Jets signed Steve White from the Buccaneers,
Thomas will see playing time so he can develop. It was a bit of a surprise that Thomas
went ahead of fellow DEs Charles Grant and Kalimba Edwards, but the Tony Dungy disciples
such as Edwards always seem to know the type of player that fits the Dungy defensive
model, so Edwards and the Jets’ personnel folks must see something in Thomas.
Next on the list for the Jets must be defensive tackle and cornerback, addressing the
run defense problem (though the return of DT Jason Ferguson from injury should help) and
the lack of depth at corner, where they lost their two starters from last season and have
signed only Aaron Beasley to fill the holes. Edwards has been working to acquire former
Bucs CB Donnie Abraham, who he coached in Tampa, via free agency, but they may still draft
a corner. |
|
 |
The Archives
2001 - 2002 Season |
| Online writers
— features and columns by our PFW staff, columnists, national correspondent, AFC
reporters, NFC reporters and contributing writers |
| College football
— articles, college notepad, key college game previews, PFW's college top 10,
Scouting Combine, Senior Bowl, top 25 predictions |
| Fantasy football
— articles, injury reports, weekly fantasy tips, weekly matchups, The Fantasy Doctor,
"In our opinion" daily fantasy columns, Fantasy spins |
| Free-agency
— news and notes, updates and features |
| General features
— Internet features, features from our print edition, MVP meter, Rookie meter, They
said it, team reports, training camp reports |
| Handicapper's
Corner — staff selections, games of the week, PFW Players of the Week, NFL
standings, weekly handicapping columns, predictions, trends, tips and timely stats |
| "In our
opinion" daily columns — opinions on general football topics |
| "PFW spins"
— short-takes on current events |
| Joel
Buchsbaum — college player evaluations, NFL player analysis, NFL draft coverage,
NFL notepad, NFList, college game previews and other NFL articles by PFW's contributing
editor |
| NFL Draft —
player evaluations, printouts, feature stories, commentaries, draft recaps |
| Ron
Pollack — articles and commentary by PFW's editor-in-chief |
| Season in
review — the 2001-2002 NFL season |
|
