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Can somebody refresh me in regards to Andrew Thomas..

56GiantsUK : 5/21/2023 6:21 am
And the events that led to Thomas improving game by game from then on.

If I remember rightly, he looked completely out of sorts, off balance often, just not looking right somehow and was starting to be considered a complete bust.

Then there was a situation with the Giants staff which resulted in the OL coach ex-cowboys being fired and an altercation reported.

Judge brought somebody in and also got involved himself with the O line at at that point there was a change in Thomas, he started to look more assured, and the sacks and pressures coming from the left tackle started to drop.

Was this because Thomas was being poorly coached ? or being forced to change his techniques from what made him a first round pick, and after the changes he just had no confidence in his abilities.

What exactly led to the fairly rapid change, and now considered a top 3 left tackle in the league.

I had always liked him and really rooted for him and really happy that he is now such a solid reliable bookend for Jones


Cheers

G.
Thomas had all the tools and works hard on his trade  
George from PA : 5/21/2023 6:32 am : link
Rookie OL are usually 20/21 year old boys.....playing against men.

This adjustment takes time.

I also believe he had several nagging injuries with his foot.
Thomas also had a bad  
section125 : 5/21/2023 6:55 am : link
ankle that eventually required two surgeries.
He had some bad technique that needed to be corrected. So young guy, some poor technique, bad ankle, learning on the job.
He did get better coaching, but the guy worked his butt off and persevered through the off season after surgery and improved enough that his natural ability took over.
He's talking about the Marc Colombo incident...  
Milton : 5/21/2023 7:05 am : link
Judge intervened in the coaching of the OL. I forget if it was Judge personally who budded into the coaching or if he added another coach to the OL room (or both), but I think Andrew Thomas was the main target of it. Colombo didn't like it and called Judge a cunt. At which point, he was fired. And I think it was Flaherty who was then brought in (or maybe he had been previously brought in as a consultant and later hired permanently after Colombo was fired).

I'm a little foggy on it, too, but that was part of what had people starting to believe in Judge, because it coincided with Thomas turning things around and the team as a whole began to play better. Thus the optimism heading into Judge's second year with the team.
Rookie  
Eric from BBI : Admin : 5/21/2023 7:24 am : link
OLs tend to struggle. There is no great mystery here. There are a variety of factors involved, including technique, but much bigger than that too.

For the latest discussion about this, I suggest the Bobby Johnson video that was recently posted.
My recollection  
Daniel in MI : 5/21/2023 7:42 am : link
Is hearing they let him go back to the techniques he used in college, at least for a while his rookie year and that stabilized him. Then he did a lot of work that first off season with a coach.
It wasn’t one thing  
Dave on the UWS : 5/21/2023 8:15 am : link
OTs who have to start their pro careers at LOT have a rough road early on. Thomas is a good example of why you can’t judge drafted players until a few years down the line. That’s why I’m not concerned about Neal. Like Thomas, he’s got the tools and has an excellent work ethic (reportedly). He’ll get it too. As fans, we want instant gratification. Especially with the OL, doesn’t work they way.
RE: My recollection  
Big Blue '56 : 5/21/2023 8:53 am : link
In comment 16120480 Daniel in MI said:
Quote:
Is hearing they let him go back to the techniques he used in college, at least for a while his rookie year and that stabilized him. Then he did a lot of work that first off season with a coach.


This plus ankle
RE: RE: My recollection  
TrueBlue56 : 5/21/2023 9:20 am : link
In comment 16120493 Big Blue '56 said:
Quote:
In comment 16120480 Daniel in MI said:


Quote:


Is hearing they let him go back to the techniques he used in college, at least for a while his rookie year and that stabilized him. Then he did a lot of work that first off season with a coach.



This plus ankle


Plus playing with hernandez next to him didn't help
Thomas  
fanoftheteam : 5/21/2023 9:31 am : link
would flash very good/shutout games his rookie year. I felt it more like a slow progression to cleaning up the bad ones. Unfortunately, we did not see flashes from Neal.
Thomas's great improvement  
Bill in UT : 5/21/2023 10:31 am : link
is not a guarantee that the same thing will happen with Neal. We sure as hell need it to, tho
fan- that's not true  
Dave on the UWS : 5/21/2023 10:35 am : link
Neal was starting to flash a bit, and then immediately hurt his MCL, which, according to B. Johnson, was a problem for him the rest of the season. They couldn't make the technique corrections with him during the second half of the season and keep him functional. This year will be a different story.
Andrew Thomas level? No, pretty solid second year lineman- yes.
Don’t know if Sy is reading this….  
NJBlueTuna : 5/21/2023 12:47 pm : link
But I remember him calling Thomas the truest “blue goose” (his words) prospect during his final year of college. As the draft approached, Sy noted some inconsistencies with Thomas and backed off slightly on his review…but I don’t think anyone knew about the severity of his ankle injury at that time.
And Re Neal….  
NJBlueTuna : 5/21/2023 12:51 pm : link
I pointed out concerns with Neal last season before game 3, which only got worse during the season. Those whom wall posters of Neal in spandex got all torn asunder and labeled me a heretic lol. Neal has some legit technique issues which go beyond the rookie learning curve. Yes he was injured. Yes he’s a rookie, yes he wants to learn a new OL position at RT unlike Flowers who was in coachable. Yada yada yada. Neal is 6’7” and winds up face down on the ground at an alarming rate. We should be concerned. I am rooting for him.
RE: He's talking about the Marc Colombo incident...  
Ivan15 : 5/21/2023 2:01 pm : link
In comment 16120476 Milton said:
Quote:
Judge intervened in the coaching of the OL. I forget if it was Judge personally who budded into the coaching or if he added another coach to the OL room (or both), but I think Andrew Thomas was the main target of it. Colombo didn't like it and called Judge a cunt. At which point, he was fired. And I think it was Flaherty who was then brought in (or maybe he had been previously brought in as a consultant and later hired permanently after Colombo was fired).

I'm a little foggy on it, too, but that was part of what had people starting to believe in Judge, because it coincided with Thomas turning things around and the team as a whole began to play better. Thus the optimism heading into Judge's second year with the team.
________________________
No doubt that Colombo was responsible for messing Thomas up and clearly Thomas was the focus of the fight (?) between Colombo and Judge. I did not remember Flaherty taking over but I do remember Dave deG coming in and stabilizing the situation. Dave is an ornery guy and it was no surprise that he didn’t stay around for another season so Judge brought in Rob Sale, another college “teacher” who had little success.
The constant comments regarding  
LauderdaleMatty : 5/21/2023 5:03 pm : link
Neal are just stupid. Not sure how good the kid will or not become but people just make shit up or ignore the facts they don't like.

I'm sure it's many of The same people were the ones who labeled Thomas a bust too. So many OL experts here. Huge bonus for BBI. God
Thomas sucks. Should've drafted Jedrick Wills.  
Klaatu : 5/21/2023 5:30 pm : link
I keed! I keed!

No question Neal struggled mightily last year. Just go back and read Sy's game reviews if you don't believe me. I'll give him another year before I hit the panic button, though.
RE: The constant comments regarding  
NJBlueTuna : 5/21/2023 7:28 pm : link
In comment 16120711 LauderdaleMatty said:
Quote:
Neal are just stupid. Not sure how good the kid will or not become but people just make shit up or ignore the facts they don't like.

I'm sure it's many of The same people were the ones who labeled Thomas a bust too. So many OL experts here. Huge bonus for BBI. God


You have a life size Neal wall poster don’t you? ;)
RE: And Re Neal….  
Angel Eyes : 5/21/2023 7:32 pm : link
In comment 16120581 NJBlueTuna said:
Quote:
I pointed out concerns with Neal last season before game 3, which only got worse during the season. Those whom wall posters of Neal in spandex got all torn asunder and labeled me a heretic lol. Neal has some legit technique issues which go beyond the rookie learning curve. Yes he was injured. Yes he’s a rookie, yes he wants to learn a new OL position at RT unlike Flowers who was in coachable. Yada yada yada. Neal is 6’7” and winds up face down on the ground at an alarming rate. We should be concerned. I am rooting for him.

Didn't Neal play RT his sophomore year? It isn't a completely new position for him.
RE: RE: And Re Neal….  
NJBlueTuna : 5/21/2023 8:14 pm : link
In comment 16120765 Angel Eyes said:
Quote:
In comment 16120581 NJBlueTuna said:


Quote:


I pointed out concerns with Neal last season before game 3, which only got worse during the season. Those whom wall posters of Neal in spandex got all torn asunder and labeled me a heretic lol. Neal has some legit technique issues which go beyond the rookie learning curve. Yes he was injured. Yes he’s a rookie, yes he wants to learn a new OL position at RT unlike Flowers who was in coachable. Yada yada yada. Neal is 6’7” and winds up face down on the ground at an alarming rate. We should be concerned. I am rooting for him.


Didn't Neal play RT his sophomore year? It isn't a completely new position for him.


Yes Neal did play a year at RT. I was being generous in my assessment of his assessment. My biggest issue isn’t he performed like a rookie, it’s that he constantly winds up face down on the ground…..a lot. For a 6’7” tackle, that’s not a good thing.
RE: RE: RE: And Re Neal….  
Bill in UT : 5/21/2023 9:23 pm : link
In comment 16120780 NJBlueTuna said:
Quote:
In comment 16120765 Angel Eyes said:


Quote:


In comment 16120581 NJBlueTuna said:


Quote:


I pointed out concerns with Neal last season before game 3, which only got worse during the season. Those whom wall posters of Neal in spandex got all torn asunder and labeled me a heretic lol. Neal has some legit technique issues which go beyond the rookie learning curve. Yes he was injured. Yes he’s a rookie, yes he wants to learn a new OL position at RT unlike Flowers who was in coachable. Yada yada yada. Neal is 6’7” and winds up face down on the ground at an alarming rate. We should be concerned. I am rooting for him.


Didn't Neal play RT his sophomore year? It isn't a completely new position for him.



Yes Neal did play a year at RT. I was being generous in my assessment of his assessment. My biggest issue isn’t he performed like a rookie, it’s that he constantly winds up face down on the ground…..a lot. For a 6’7” tackle, that’s not a good thing.


I'm a senior, and there are balance classes given in my community. I'm pretty sure that's something he can train for.
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