Logan Thomas could lose job to QB who can't see well
Long story short... Logan isn't progressing as planned, and in fact isn't really progressing at all. Things have gotten so bad for him out in the desert that after OTAs, the word out of the Cardinals camp is that it looks like undrafted Phillip Sims is going to beat him out for the 3rd string QB role for the team. Which is noteworthy because when Sims went through his physical with the team they realized his vision was so poor he needed corrective lenses to accurately see the field.
Not good for the former 4th round pick.
Forums:
DISCLAIMER: Forum topics may not have been written or edited by The Key Play staff.
Comments
Time for him to switch to TE like Pryor? *ducks*
That joke would make a lot more sense if Pryor actually switched to TE and not WR.
What kind of silly person expects interweb jokes to make sense?
This was my first thought as well. I heard Pryor is doing pretty well at receiver. Maybe Logan should start looking to do the same at TE.
Huh? Pryor just got released by the Bengals...and was competing for a QB slot.
The Browns picked him up. Funny side note to that; the Browns are playing a preseason event at the Shoe, because Pryor as banned from anOSU there was speculation he would not be allowed to come.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/13141803/ohio-state-bucke...
Kind of, but not anymore probably?
My mistake.
Clearly he's "doing pretty well" at receiver - even though he's never actually run as much as a single practice play as a WR and there are like 15 receivers on the Browns roster.
I'm not making jokes, but he may need to move to TE if he can't progress as a QB.
He is too good of an athlete.
I've been a long time supporter of LT as a QB, but if Bruce Arians believes that Philip Sims is a better project than him, then that will essentially end Logan's stint as a QB in the league. As EddieVT said above, he is too talented of an athlete. He should be able to make more waves as a TE and make a pretty darn good living if he can even be just an average one. He definitely has the tools to be better than average knowing his measurables/athleticism.
This seems like no news. Two weeks ago it was someone taking one sentence and making a whole article. Now it is someone else using the fact that they haven't cut people to say Sims is the frontrunner for the job.
I have no idea if Logan Thomas is actually doing well, be the only actual information in that article was that they haven't picked one, and that Sims can't see well.
The fact that its even close doesn't bode well for Logan.
He should be making strides towards getting playing time. The fact its essentially a tossup between a guy who was a 4th round pick and an undrafted rookie who until recently didn't realize his vision was so bad he needed corrective lenses is telling. Logan was brought in to be groomed into the next starter a few years down the line, and if he keeps progressing like this, he might not even be backup QB material down the line. Not good.
Unless I am wrong, we hadn't chosen a quarterback until the end of spring either, even though it was clear that Brewer was going to win it after the first scrimmage.
Like I mentioned, I am not saying he is doing wonderful. I would hold out on judgements until there is actually information though. Pretty sure most teams try to keep their cards pretty close to their chest.
No, that's not the fact. The fact is that this writer has been negative on LT since the day he was drafted. Almost every team has more than 3 QBs on the roster right now and almost every one has writers/bloggers ginning up stories about the competitions for the various back-up slots (and some starter slots...see Bills, Buffalo).
It's the offseason...this writer's interpretation and analysis of the situation means virtually nothing about what may or may not happen in the fall.
The fact that Logan was yanked last year after a week of practice when he was supposed to start for the injured Drew Stanton is telling enough. He got beat out by Ryan Lindley for the 3rd QB job. That's enough to justify these articles.
I thought the same thing.
http://www.thekeyplay.com/content/2014/december/22/logan-thomas-likely-s...
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12067675/bruce-arians-says-arizona-car...
When Logan wasn't in for this game, I thought that was when the writing on the wall was starting to show
No it's not. LT did not get "yanked" and he didn't get "beat out". Go back and read exactly what Arians said at the time:
"We drafted him for two years from now, not November," Arians said, via the team's official website. "It just so happened his number got called (earlier.) I was not going to let him fail (in San Francisco) because once you fail those scars never go away.
"It's very hard to get the guys back in the locker room if you cost them the playoffs. I just wasn't going to put him in that situation. Right or wrong, it just was my decision."
If anything, Arians' quote and actions at the time are exactly why it's not "telling". He basically said they had no chance with whomever they started (and he was correct), so why poison the guy they have a long term investment in, i.e. "two years from now", i.e. 2016.
The writer clearly has been biased against LT from day 1 and looks for opportunities to say something negative about him every time he writes about him.
If they drafted him for 2016, it has to be fairly alarming that he's shown so little improvement in 2015 that an undrafted free agent who literally couldn't see the field is apparently making a good case to take the 3rd string QB role away from him....
Nobody is "apparently" making a good case. Arians has said flat out that nobody has made a case.
Has it occurred to anybody that if LT loses the 3rd spot, it isn't likely going to be to either of the guys he's currently competing with? There are far better options currently on other rosters that won't be there come late August.
IMO, Arians is playing tough love with Thomas.
Tough love or speaking the truth?
Could be a bit of both.
Probably more than a bit of both, actually.
arrian's has quite a few quotes this off season that aren't encouraging for Logan. Is the writer making up his quotes?
There's not a single quote from Arians in the article -- and his actual quotes on Thomas have been very limited (albeit less than complimentary).
didn't say that article had a single one, but as you admit the ones he has made have not painted LT3 in a positive light.
So what quotes are you referring to that the writer hasn't been making up? Arians has said very little that I have seen published. A few one word or half-sentence responses. NFL head coaches don't get asked much and don't talk much about 3rd string QB competitions.
Early comment: "He's going to get a ton of work and those reps are invaluable," Arians said, via the team's website. "Just in decision-making, how fast you're getting it out of your hand, where you're going with it, where you're going when 'one' and 'two' are still covered. Are you still scrambling around or are you going to find your outlets? That growth process comes strictly from reps."
"He still makes those wild throws and you scratch your head sometimes," Arians said. Offseason reports haven't been glowing for Thomas, who was an erratic mess at Virginia Tech. The Cardinals seemed to be the perfect landing spot for him with Arians, but the quarterback guru hasn't been able to get much out of Thomas. If Thomas can't flip the switch in Arizona, we doubt he can elsewhere. Jun 9 - 3:11 PM
According to FOX Sports Arizona's Mike Jurecki, Cardinals second-year QB Logan Thomas "hasn't made progress the coaching staff expected."
Arians acknowledged he was hoping quarterback Logan Thomas would have made more progress by now. Thomas remains in a three-QB race for the third QB spot. (from the Arizona cardinals site)
Ok, the first "quote" is neither negative nor positive. It's just a statement of fact about the process - from the beginning of the process. It could be about any young QB; it just happens to be about Thomas.
After that, you have one direct quote about Thomas, one "acknowledgement" attributed to Arians (but not a direct quote), and some conjecture by sports writers.
Pretty much exactly what I said.
I respect your opinion, but at a certain point, I think you're desperately trying to hear what you want to hear, and not necessarily understanding what is being said.
That's pretty amusing...coming from someone concluding something from very little...especially given that my point is to not conclude anything from very little (go back and read what I said rather than what you think I said).
the first comment was to give perspective that they were going to get him a lot of reps to see if he could handle it. He hasn't handled it well, which is pretty obvious to everyone but you.
I'm getting dizzy trying to keep up with the moving targets...what exactly is your point?
My point is that from the very limited quotes from Bruce Arians and some conjecture on those limited quotes from "bloggers" (i.e. guys with a computer who have played fantasy football who don't even appear to have "sources", but think they can read the tea leaves) you can't draw much of a conclusion beyond 1) Logan Thomas is not competing for the 2nd string job and 2) like every 3rd string NFL QB, Logan Thomas is competing for the 3rd string QB position (as he did last year) and 3) he has neither lost the position nor won it.
http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasyfootball/update/24917001/report-...
"Arians earlier said he'd play Thomas for at least the first half. But that was before Thomas failed to inspire confidence at Wednesday's practice."
And if you take out the wild conjecture his quote would be "Thomas will play for at least the first half". I'm not saying he's tearing the world up, but this is very careful wording by the writer to push their agenda without stating a falsehood.
So if one removes all conjecture:
Arians originally said,"Thomas will play for at least the first half".
But he then changed his decision saying "We drafted him for two years from now, not November," Arians said, via the team's official website. "It just so happened his number got called (earlier.) I was not going to let him fail (in San Francisco) because once you fail those scars never go away.
"It's very hard to get the guys back in the locker room if you cost them the playoffs. I just wasn't going to put him in that situation. Right or wrong, it just was my decision."
That's the floweriest, coach-speakiest way possible of saying "he isn't good enough to play."
There's nothing coach speak about it. He flat out said he wasn't ready and he wasn't going to put him a lose-lose situation.
Just like "Major League'!
UVA winning last night, LT not doing great, potentially missing out on a couple of recruits, my email at work isnt working, and Ive been on hold with the help desk for over 30 minutes. Today is not going to be a good day...
Don't believe everything you read. UVa didn't win last night and one blogger's opinion doesn't mean much.
And your access to The Key Play stills works, right? Who needs email?
You know, you're absolutely right. Thanks for the perspective!
And we didn't play Wake Forest last year, either. You know, I am feeling a bit better now.
You knew things were going to be bad when the bypassed him for anybody else on the team that could throw the ball when they were in the middle of a playoff run. And then in the playoffs too. I think he only threw like 8 passes last season, one for a TD that the WR broke.
Too bad. At least he got paid some money to be a professional QB, might be time to line up at TE if you want that 8-10 year run in the league.
Yup. Hope he's willing to make the switch and honestly not sure why Arizona hasn't attempted it yet. Worst case if they think he has ANY chance of developing into a QB they could keep him as the 3rd qb and try to get some use out of him on ST and as a situational WR/TE...
Bruce Arians wants the LT of 2011 . Its tough love from an offensive genius who wants his developmental 4th round project to show that he can be a starter in the future. LT will and should show what he can do by going undefeated against Simms again.
I trust Arians implicitly in this matter, cannot believe he'd not have Logan's interests at heart along with the obvious need for his team to win. That said, I really like LT and sorta feel like he may, and I do mean may 'cause it's still too early to know for sure, but he may have taken the wrong fork in the road to NFL success. Then again, while he was obviously born with the right tools to be a great TE, he hasn't had the coaching, practice, experience, etc. to just jump right in and be a professional at the position. I just hope his career doesn't get frittered away until he's not able to contribute professionally. There are a lot of big tough guys watching from their armchairs on Sunday...hope he doesn't end up being one of them anytime soon.
Yeah, I've been tracking this pretty closely since he's on my Dynasty team... hasn't sounded good all offseason.
Seriously is this a surprise to anyone? Seriously
I get that it may not look good now, but there is no way Logan should play under any circumstances for a couple more years. Does that mean he's never going to be at least serviceable, No. When you take a quarterback outside the 1st round you are acknowledging that that person has work to do before he'll be a viable option. Sure you occasionally have your Russel WIlsons and Tom Bradys, but for the most part it'll take some time.
Some people in that range are good college qb's who need time to adjust to the NFL and work on varying skill sets. Logan has a lot to work on, but unlike most of these guys he is a heck of a physical specimen( He has a much higher ceiling than this Sims guy will ever have). Would it be stupid to take someone like that in the top 5 like Mel Kiper predicted a couple years ago, Heck yes. However as a 3rd Rd. pick you can teach Logan the ins and outs (He;s barely been in the Cardinals program for a year). Worst case they look back 3 years from now and he was a complete failure(but it's only a 3rd Rd. Pick the organization will be fine). Other more feasible scenarios are he's a good backup like Tyrod who gets his shot on another team(still not the end of the world). Or he'll turn into Arizona's starting QB and sure he may not be a top 10 quarterback, but you can use those high picks on putting talent around him, and hopefully make some noise (If Trent Dilfer can have success anybody can right?)
If this story was written two years from now it'd be newsworthy, but as of today this is no more than a filler off-season story.
Thomas was a 4th round pick.
QBs taken in the 4th-7th round, 2013: Matt Barkley, Ryan Nassib, Tyler Wilson, Landry Jones, Brad Sorensen, Zac Dysert, Sean Renfree
QBs taken in the 4th-7th round, 2012: Kirk Cousins, Ryan Lindley, BJ Coleman, Chandler Harnish
QBs taken in the 4th-7th round, 2011: Ricky Stanzi, TJ Yates, Nathan Enderle, Tyrod Taylor
QBs taken in the 4th-7th round, 2010: Mike Kafka, John Skelton, Jonathan Crompton, Rusty Smith, Dan Lefevour, Joe Webb, Tony Pike
QBs taken in the 4th-7th round, 2009: Stephen McGee, Rhett Bomar, Nate Davis, Tom Brandstater, Mike Teel, Keith Null, Curtis Painter
Stephen McGee
QBs taken in the 4th-7th round, 2008: John David Booty, Dennis Dixon, Josh Johnson, Erik Ainge, Colt Brennan, Andre' Woodson, Matt Flynn, Alex Brink
Wilson and Brady are the exceptions, but not for the reason you mentioned- most QBs taken after the first two rounds amount to very little. When you take a QB after the first round you're basically buying a lottery ticket.
The receivers in Arizona must be letting him down.
I am a LT fan as a Player. Look at the talent on the 2011 team. We are just now getting back to a comparable skill position set with a potentially better starting 5 n the O line. As long as Thomas commits himself he will compete at some position.
Becoz he is a tight end
Start training as a TE get cut and picked up by a team in need. This is not the only report I have read that says things are going badly. Nothing ever is great for a Hokie in AZ. Now Green Bay is another matter.
Can anyone say that Logan Thomas would NOT be a an NFL-contributor-type TE? The dude is a freak. Does anyone remember the catch he made in the back of the end-zone from Tyrod?
Teach the dude to block a little (ya know, he likes contact) and motion him outside on certain plays. There is no way this guy has no place on the football field in the NFL and there is no way he's going to make an impact at quarterback, anywhere, ever. He does not have the vision or accuracy to make it. I truly hoped that wouldn't be the case when he got drafted and I'll be glad to eat my words on that later......hell, I hope I am wrong.....but.....I'm probably not.