2016 Los Angeles Rams Sign DL Cam Thomas

from 2010

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Cam Thomas

6’4, 330 pounds | Defensive tackle | North Carolina

http://www.sbnation.com/2010/3/15/1374881/cam-thomas-nfl-draft-scouting

Pass Rush/Closing Ability/Moves and Counter Moves: A non-factor for the most part against the pass. Most likely a two down player at the next level. Uses a bull rush most of the time, does not have a even-halfway refined assortment of pass rush moves. Does not use hands well. 3.5 sacks over a 4 year career, none of which came in his senior season.

Pursuit/Lateral Movement and Agility: Does not make plays outside of the box, rarely makes play outside of either B gap. Heavy feet that do not cover a lot of ground. More of a stay at home guy that is always late to the action, and that’s when he gets there.

Quickness/Explosion: Can get out of his stance well at times, but he tires easily and will go a series of plays where he is the last defender to move. The initial pop out of the stance is there, but it completely disappears at times.

Run Defend/Recognition: Can eat blocks and free up his teammates. Enjoys the dirty work. Struggles to recognize lateral blocking schemes. Content just flying up north, out of control at times. Strong presence against the inside run, can control two gaps.

Size/Length/Hand Size: Has the perfect body for a run defending defensive tackle in a lot of schemes. Has a huge rear that generates a lot of power. Very long arms with big, country strong hands.

Strength/Ability to Shed Blocks: Immense strength when he has a full dose of energy. Struggles to get off blocks because he plays too high, and makes for an easy target for the blocker to stay on. When his technique is on however, he can free himself up easily because of the power he can exert.

Tackling: 57 tackles over the past 2 years, averages out to just over two per game. Plays high and it has an adverse affect on his ability to drive through the ball carrier when he is in position. His sheer power can knock a ball carrier backward or move the pile. Cleans up well.

Technique/Hand Use/Leverage: Plays way too high, even when his full bar of energy is there. Gets straight up right out of his stance will try to outmuscle the blocker, which will not work in the NFL. Can deliver a pop with his hands and control the engagement. A strong presence against the double team because he has consistent footwork, always chopping and active.

Versatility: Can play the 2-gap role in a 3-4 at nose tackle, but his best fit is the 1-technique in a 4-3. He will not offer much in terms of versatility, but he can play the 2 down run-plugger-role at a high level. Will struggle to make an impact as a pass rusher. One dimensional.

Final Word: Seeing Cam Thomas up close and personal down at the Senior Bowl, it is easy to realize why scouts are high on the potential with him. He has a thick, strong body from head to toe that is capable of beating up any blocker that gets in his way. He never really came in to his own as a dominant inside presence at North Carolina, but he does not have the kind of game that will show up on the stat sheet. He eats up space and blockers, freeing up his teammates and it was evident in 2009 as the UNC front seven had a breakout year as a unit. He brings the lunch-pail mentality with a high motor and team first attitude. He needs to keep himself in better shape so that he can play at a high level throughout the course of an entire game, but he proved at UNC that he puts football first as he lost over 30 pounds since his freshman year and molded himself in to a powerful defender. Because of the limitations and inconsistent play over the past two years, Thomas projects to be a 3rd-4th round pick. However, he is a guy that can play right away and fulfill one of the many run stuffing holes across the league.

and then closer to the present—MARCH 20, 2016

Thomas never played out—or played, rather—the way the Steelers hoped, and he was at a very real risk of being released last summer. But partly due to injuries, he managed to make the roster, and played over 150 snaps over the course of the season.

It seems rather unlikely that the team would be interested in bringing him back, even if other teams—he visited with Seattle on Thursday—have shown a bit of interest in him. He was a starter at nose tackle for the Chargers for most of the 2013 season before signing with the Steelers.

PFF: CAM THOMAS, NT, SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

from 2012

In 2009, the San Diego Chargers earned the No. 2 seed in the AFC Playoffs. Thanks in part to a porous run defense, though, they were one-and-done on their home turf, where the New York Jets gained 169 yards on 39 carries on their way to a three-point win.

Part of the run defense woes were due to long-time Pro Bowl run-stuffer Jamal Williams missing all but the first game of the year. Meanwhile, the only two other defensive linemen to grade positively against the ground attack were Antonio Garay and Andre Coleman–who combined for a mere 67 snaps that season (including the playoffs).

Concerns

With his 6-foot-4, 330-pound frame, Thomas proved difficult to move in the run game during his college career, despite never putting up grand numbers–which was no doubt affected by the Tarheels’ non-attacking defensive strategy. However, there’s no hiding the fact that Thomas’ college stats in 2008 (34 tackles including 3.5 for losses, one sack) were much more favorable than his numbers in 2009 (15 tackles including 2.5 for losses, no sacks) and scouts lobbed pre-draft complaints about his conditioning/motivation, and his non-existent pass rushing resumé.

Despite a solid Senior Bowl performance (which included a sack) that led Mike Mayock to suggest Thomas wouldn’t make it past the second round, the prototypical nose tackle wound up falling to the fifth; a fall likely related to his one-sack tally in the last two years of his college career. Still, the fact that the Chargers traded up to get him suggests they weren’t prepared to let him drop any further. With former Chicago Bear Antonio Garay viewed as a temporary replacement, what with him coming off the Jets practice squad after recovering from a nasty leg injury suffered two years prior, the Chargers hoped Thomas could be Williams’ eventual successor. They released Williams before the 2010 season began.
Rookie Year

Thomas started his rookie year in a rotation with Garay and Ogemdi Nwagbuo at NT, and did not appear until Week 5’s matchup with the division rival Raiders in Oakland. Despite being labeled as more of a space-eater than actual tackler, he earned a +1.9 run defense grade in just eight running plays, while recording three tackles and a stop–not to mention preventing Michael Bush from reaching the first down marker on a 2nd-and-3. Despite this solid performance, Thomas saw only 66 more snaps that season, perhaps a mistake considering Nwagbou, who started the year with +1.3 and +1.1 overall showings, struggled to make an impact later in the season. Some of this was due to Garay’s breakout year (+27.9), one, no doubt, that neither the Chargers nor anyone else saw coming.

Overall, Thomas finished the year with a +0.6 run defense grade, but his performance as a pass rusher further validated scouts’ concerns about his ability to generate pressure. On 38 rushes, he could only come away with two sacks, a pressure, and a -2.6 rating, with both sacks coming courtesy of Antwan Barnes pressuring the QB into his grasp.

A Difference Maker in Year Two

In 2011, Thomas gained a clear grip on the backup nose tackle spot before seeing his role expand as the season continued. After a respectable outing in a losing effort in New England, Thomas really shone in a Week 3 game at home against the division rival Chiefs, beating Casey Wiegmann (our 14th overall rated center last year) on numerous occasions. Thomas helped give Wiegmann his worst performance of the year by beating him for two stops in the run game and a hit on the quarterback. What really showed Thomas’ dominance were two plays that won’t show in his stats: carrying Weigmann up the line of scrimmage on a 2-yard run to close the lane with 3:33 left in the third quarter (resulting in Thomas Jones running into the lineman’s back and allowing Jacque Cesaire and Travis LaBoy to make the stop), and forcing Weigmann to commit a holding penalty on another rush with 55 seconds left in that same quarter.

With Nwagbuo cut early in the season and defensive end Luis Castillo going down with an injury in Week 1, a series of good early-season showings paved Thomas’ way into a variety of formations. In some four-man fronts he would line up at DRT or DLT, while sometimes playing right or left end in two- or three-linemen alignments. He found some success in these shifts, especially in a Week 16 blowout loss in Detroit where, as a defensive end on a three-man line and a defensive tackle on four-man line (in addition to his base NT backup role), he was able to earn himself a season-best +1.9 run defense grade, which included making a stop for a loss on a 2nd-and-goal run from his own 5-yard line. He even dropped into coverage once in that game.

Thomas would finish the year with a solid +5.8 overall grade, actually outplaying incumbent Garay in run defense (+6.2 to Garay’s +1.5) with 10 running stops on 166 plays. He also occupied double teams and clogged running lanes on a number of occasions without making the tackle himself. Along the way, he began to shed the ‘no threat to the QB’ label, registering four sacks, three QB hits (including hits on Tom Brady and Carson Palmer that don’t show up on the stat sheet because of unrelated penalties) and 13 pressures.

Though he does need to work on limiting penalties himself (he was flagged five times last year), new defensive coordinator John Pagano would be wise to give Thomas more than 395 snaps and continue to exploit his versatility.

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San Diego Chargers Bench NT Cam Thomas for Sean Lissemore

Dec 11,2013

Cam Thomas has been moved down the depth chart at Nose Tackle for the San Diego Chargers. This comes as little surprise to viewers of the team, as he has been the centerpiece of a defensive line that has been very disappointing this season.

While the Chargers defensive secondary has been historically bad, it is also true that the run defense has been terrible and ranks dead last in DVOA as well. That is largely attributable to the poor play of the defensive line. Thomas has posted a mediocre Pro Football Focus score of -5.8, 56th out of 69 defensive tackles who have played at least 25% of their team’s snaps.

Thomas has been taking about two-thirds of the snaps in a rotation with Sean Lissemore, who will be taking over the starting duties. Lissemore has been solid this season, especially in the run game, posting a PFF score of +5.7.

This move may work out being beneficial to both men, as Thomas has posted his best two games this season coming off the bench and playing about one-third of the team’s snaps. He also succeeded in that role being Aubrayo Franklin last year.

This season is the last of the rookie contract Thomas signed in 2010, signalling that this could possibly be the last few games for Thomas as a San Diego Charger. Lissemore is still under the contract he originally signed with the Cowboys before being traded to the Chargers through 2016, earning a cheap $1 million in 2014.