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USC CB Terrell Thomas Bio

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APRIL 26, 2008

TERRELL THOMAS
Cornerback
University of Southern California Trojans
6-1, 202
Alta Loma, California
Ranch Cucamonga High School

OVERVIEW

One of the premier lock-down cornerbacks in college football, Thomas' hard-hitting tackling ability and penchant for making big tackles inside the box could see him shift to free safety at the next level. When healthy, he has more than lived up to the challenge of covering the opposition's main receiving target and has allowed just two touchdown catches of the last two seasons.

Injuries have been the only thing to keep Thomas off the field for the Trojans. Because of his ability to dominate vs. the run, he has also seen some action with the linebacker unit. He shows little regard for his own safety, willingly hurling himself into the pile to make the play. He does this, despite undergoing surgery on both shoulders during his career, in addition to surgery on his right knee to repair torn ligaments. The grueling rehabilitation he underwent each time saw him return to perform even better than before he was hurt.

At Ranch Cucamonga High School, Thomas earned 2002 Super Prep All-America, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-West, Tom Lemming All-West, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first-team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, All-CIF Division II first- team and Los Angeles Times All-Inland Empire first-team accolades.

A standout tailback and cornerback, Thomas rushed ran for 1,250 yards on 134 carries (9.3 avg) with fourteen touchdowns and caught 30 passes with five scores as a senior. On defense, he recorded 115 tackles, had seven interceptions and forced four fumbles while averaging 44.5 yards on kickoff returns in 2002.

As a junior, Thomas collected 78 tackles and five interceptions, as he also had fifteen catches for 250 yards (16.7 avg) with six touchdowns. He also was on the school's track team, compiling career-bests of 10.5 in the 100 meters and 21.4 in the 200 meters.

Thomas enrolled at Southern California in 2003. He was listed second on the depth chart at free safety, but suffered a right shoulder dislocation in fall camp. He underwent surgery, receiving a medical hardship. In 2004, Thomas appeared in eleven games as a reserve cornerback, shifting to that position from free safety during '04 spring drills. Seeing most of his action in the dime packages and on special teams, he made only nine tackles (7 solos), but also batted away a pair of passes and intercepted two others.

Thomas took over strong-side (right) cornerback for the first two games of the 2005 season, but he suffered torn ligaments in his right knee vs. Arkansas, underwent surgery and was lost for the rest of the year. He finished with five solo tackles and a pass break-up.

Thomas reclaimed his right cornerback job in 2006, earning All-Pac 10 Conference second-team honors. He ranked seventh on the team with 50 tackles (35 solos), making a strong presence felt on the blitz, as he totaled three sacks for losses of 32 yards and recovered two fumbles, returning one for a touchdown. He also intercepted two passes and deflected twelve others.

Prior to the start of 2007 spring drills, Thomas underwent surgery to repair a left shoulder dislocation. He returned to start all thirteen games, again receiving All-Pac 10 Conference second-team recognition. He ranked ninth on the squad with 45 tackles (31 solos) and had a sack with 4.5 stops for losses. He caused three fumbles, recovered another and batted away seven passes. He also gained 44 yards on four interception returns.

SCOUTING REPORT

Has an athletic, tall frame with thick upper body muscle tone, especially in his shoulders, tight waist, long arms, good bubble and defined calves...Plays with good field vision and alertness, as his ability to keep plays in front of him and handle zone switch-offs could see him shift to free safety at the next level...Runs with a normal stride and shows steady acceleration, but could be more explosive coming out of his breaks...Has quick feet and good hip flexibility (just lacks natural explosion)...Shows enough range to cover the field for a potential shift to safety...Makes adequate game adjustments on the field and puts in extra hours studying tapes (well-prepared for his upcoming opponent)...

Has very good strength and shows good counter moves to play off blocks and slip into the Backfield on the blitz (see 2007 California and 2006 Arizona and Stanford games)...Team-first player who takes well to hard coaching...Plays with good intensity and will not hesitate to "jaw" with his opponent, accepting any challenge...In addition to possibly playing safety at the next level, he has also excelled on the punt coverage unit and shows good urgency getting down field to cover on kicks...Quick to see the play develop and takes good angles to adjust on the move...Reads run plays quickly and is a solid run-force defender...His key-&-diagnose skills are steadily improving (just needs to play the man tighter rather than try to make the big play by going for the ball)...Shows good body control and hand usage to jam and reroute the receiver and works hard to keep the wide-out in front of his (knows he lacks the burst to recover when the receiver gets behind him)...Smooth in his backpedal and makes crisp breaks when he keeps his pads down (will tend to get too high at times and the result is poor plant-&-drive skills when he does that)...His hip turn is good for safety, but he needs to generate a better second gear (will also take some wasted motion at times out of his breaks)...Gets good depth in his pass drops playing in the zone and when he does not allow big cushion, he can mirror the receiver and react quickly to the ball in flight (when he allows too much cushion and the receiver gets behind him, he struggles to recover)...Needs to play with more consistent urgency (goes through the motions at times when the play is away from him), but he has the functional range to get over the top...Has the foot quickness and body control to deliver a jam and run with receivers, showing quickness to open and run...Has good leaping ability, but must work on his timing...Can catch with his hands, but needs to do it with better consistency...Has good hand usage playing off the block in run force, doing a better job of exploding behind his hits in tight areas than in the open...More of a drag-down tackler, as he will get high on contact, but he generates good pop on contact.

Compares To...DWIGHT SMITH-Minnesota...Like Smith, Thomas is a hard-hitting corner-back, but his lack of blazing speed will see him struggle when isolated on deep routes vs. speedy NFL receivers. Smith was the same way, but he made a smooth transition to safety and was productive there because of his tackling skills. Thomas has experience at free safety and has shown good playing skills inside the box. With his strong hand jolt, he will not have any problems rerouting tight ends and backs in the short area passing game. He does a nice job of mirroring the receivers, until they eat up his cushion on deep routes. Without possessing that explosive burst to close, along with durability concerns, teams might shy away from him in the early rounds when looking for a cornerback, but his draft stock could be higher if he shows that he might be capable of making the move to free safety at the next level.