The Bobcat Nation

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Michael Bennett was scooting down the sideline after receiving a short pass from Daunte Culpepper. Rookie cornerback Joey Thomas had an angle on Bennett. But instead of trying to grab him or shove him out of bounds, he bent slightly at the waist as if trying to deliver some sort of weak hip check.

He had three tackles, but he also was hurdled by a Viking' tight end...tight end?...
Didn't look good on that play either.

Can you say Rookie? QB and CB are the toughest positions in the NFL to play as a rookie (not to mention a 1-AA rookie). Drayton Florence for the Chargers is in his 3rd year now and it now starting to make strides. Give the guy a break. I think I saw quite a few corners this week miss a few tackles/get beat. If your a CB its going to happen. The thing to note, is that Joey IS in the right position usually and is around the ball. Right now he's thinking too much and reacting to the offensive player instead of attacking like he did in college. That will come with time/increased confidence.

There is a difference between "not getting it" and taking a dive. Joey directly avoided contact with that guy.

JET took a dive on that play.

Cat Pride wrote:There is a difference between "not getting it" and taking a dive. Joey directly avoided contact with that guy.

JET took a dive on that play.

I don't think he took a dive at all. I think he was going to throw himself into him with his body/hip and then decided to tackle him the right way and by that time it was too late as Bennett was in full speed. i.e. ==> ROOKIE ... the game is played at a much faster speed than college. That is a reaction play and he failed the test on that play. There was a lot of bodies/action going on around him and he needed to make a play and he didn't. I agree he didn't make the play, but I don't think he took a dive. If you watch him, he is often 'thinking' too much and has his head on a swivel. Florence was the same way with the Chargers when he first started seeing the field. I can only imagine how fast the game is when your on the field playing CB in the NFL. Its going to take some time.

& Bennett has run by plenty of NFL guys in his short time in the league.


It's not like he's slow or anything.

My take is that JET used very poor tackling technique. He had his head down and probabaly his eyes closed when he went for the tackle. He did that a lot at MSU too when he had a big back one on one. Remember Jesse Chatman?

Take note that Champ Bailey also got "hurdled" this weekend - on an almost identical play. Joey was going full out for that tackle - in good position -low, looking to wrap up his legs, and the guy launched. It was a great offensive move - not really a bad defensive play. It also slowed the dude up enough that other Packers stopped him before the first down.

I only saw his little hip shot effort on replay - and I admit fully he was one of THREE Packer defensive backs who got totally beat - but anyone who has watched his growth over the past five weeks or so can see the progress he is making. He has had several huge open field tackles that stopped drives. This one play simply shows that he has plenty reason to keep working, watching tape and learning. I highly doubt it was some kind of laziness though. He just was out of position and second guessed himself - took too much time.

He is the first to say he needs to get better, but if you don't think JET is making the most of his opportunities, you're not watching the game or listening to the reports on him. If he can continue to learn the fundamentals and gain confidence he WILL be a fine, fine cornerback.

Just my two cents worth - but lets give the guy some credit. I truly believe that some Monday in the next few years we'll hear, "Joey Thomas, Montana State University" during the starting lineups.

i remember listening to scott gurnsey when they announced joey before the Bobcat/grizzy game in bozeman his sr yr the pa announcer said joey was one of the best defensive backs in the history of the big sky. all that gursey could could talk about was "give me a break" he isn't that good what has he ever done. i wonder what one of the two is playing on sunday and what one is drinking beer on sunday. GO CATS

BobcatBlood wrote:Take note that Champ Bailey also got "hurdled" this weekend - on an almost identical play. Joey was going full out for that tackle - in good position -low, looking to wrap up his legs, and the guy launched. It was a great offensive move - not really a bad defensive play. It also slowed the dude up enough that other Packers stopped him before the first down.

I only saw his little hip shot effort on replay - and I admit fully he was one of THREE Packer defensive backs who got totally beat - but anyone who has watched his growth over the past five weeks or so can see the progress he is making. He has had several huge open field tackles that stopped drives. This one play simply shows that he has plenty reason to keep working, watching tape and learning. I highly doubt it was some kind of laziness though. He just was out of position and second guessed himself - took too much time.

He is the first to say he needs to get better, but if you don't think JET is making the most of his opportunities, you're not watching the game or listening to the reports on him. If he can continue to learn the fundamentals and gain confidence he WILL be a fine, fine cornerback.

Just my two cents worth - but lets give the guy some credit. I truly believe that some Monday in the next few years we'll hear, "Joey Thomas, Montana State University" during the starting lineups.

Yeah, I saw that Champ Bailey hurdle too ... he must really suck. He gave up 3 TD's to the Raiders 4 weeks ago too ... I don't see how he deserves to be in the NFL. Did he hand check in college or something? (SARCASM ADDED).

bob wrote:i remember listening to scott gurnsey when they announced joey before the Bobcat/grizzy game in bozeman his sr yr the pa announcer said joey was one of the best defensive backs in the history of the big sky. all that gursey could could talk about was "give me a break" he isn't that good what has he ever done. i wonder what one of the two is playing on sunday and what one is drinking beer on sunday. GO CATS

Gurnsey is a class-A prick. I'll kick his ass if I ever run into him in Hippy-town... not kidding.

In the game against the Vikes, Joey did have some very good plays. He made a couple of nice open field tackles. Yes the play where he completely missed Bennet was not pretty, but if you notice, when he is matched up one on one with any receiver on the outside, they never throw at him. I wonder if that is because of his good cover skills or if the QB never looks over there. Regardless, he is not doing bad, whatsoever, and I am thrilled to see him out there every Sunday, even though I am a huge Bears' fan.

Chances are Joey will have a lot of playing time this Sunday as a win or loss means nothing to the Packers. By halftime most of the star players will on the bench giving way to backups, such as Joey.

Although profisme, Joey is thrown to. A lot of times he is on the field passing teams will run cross routes in the center of the field close to the line of scrimmage, a reciever then bumps Thomas (or Ahmad Carroll, he gets caught in this a lot) off his man. When the pass is made, Carroll or Thomas are usually not in on the play by then, forcing the saftey to make the play.

It's the opposing coaches getting the best of the rookies, happens all over the league.

Funny how hard it is to really watch a cornerback isn't it? For some reason the cameras always seem to follow the ball! Leaves fans of specific defensive players having to fill in a lot of blanks!

Again, you negative people....get a life! We all should be extremely proud that a player from MSU is playing in the pros, especially for a playoff team and the reputation of the Green Bay Packers. Wht do we continue to criticize people on this site. Joey is representing MSU and the Big Sky COnference in the NFL.....be happy........the new year is coming!

I wasn't being negative at all. He has impressed me this year, especially with his ability to improve his game where he needs to. Also, it is nice to see guys like Clarence Moore and Jared Allen do well in the NFL as well. Jared Allen has a good chance to be NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He is a beast out there, and I for one am just really happy that he is no longer rushing our QB's.

profisme wrote:I wasn't being negative at all. He has impressed me this year, especially with his ability to improve his game where he needs to. Also, it is nice to see guys like Clarence Moore and Jared Allen do well in the NFL as well. Jared Allen has a good chance to be NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He is a beast out there, and I for one am just really happy that he is no longer rushing our QB's.

Yep...Allen and Moore have both been very impressive when I've seen them, and Joey seems to be improving quite a bit, although like any rookie CB he still makes mistakes out there. A very good showing from this years Big Sky draft picks.

profisme wrote:I wasn't being negative at all. He has impressed me this year, especially with his ability to improve his game where he needs to. Also, it is nice to see guys like Clarence Moore and Jared Allen do well in the NFL as well. Jared Allen has a good chance to be NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He is a beast out there, and I for one am just really happy that he is no longer rushing our QB's.

... or clogging up the Pocatello prison cells.

I certainly wasn't trying to be negative, or slam, Thomas. Just saw that in an article and hopefully it is something he can look back on and laugh at someday, especially be hurdled (not run over) by a tight end. I like to pass on the good with the bad. I think it's kind of flaky when everyone turns a blind eye on anything that can be perceived as bad news.

Someone usually beats me to the punch when it is good news. I'm sure that whoever wrote that has no more ability than anyone about how good Thomas is or isn't. I'm certainly not one to have any idea whether his career will pan out well or not. I hope it does, and not just because I'm a big Packers fan.

profisme wrote:I wasn't being negative at all. He has impressed me this year, especially with his ability to improve his game where he needs to. Also, it is nice to see guys like Clarence Moore and Jared Allen do well in the NFL as well. Jared Allen has a good chance to be NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He is a beast out there, and I for one am just really happy that he is no longer rushing our QB's.

I'm not usre how difficult it is to shine as a rookie on about the worst defense in the league.

When you get 9 sacks as a rookie in the NFL, I don't care what kind of defense you are on, that is impressive, at least to me.