Many years ago Peter Gammons wrote an article on ESPN.com about a baseball prodigy discovered in the sugar cane fields of Louisiana. Nash switch-hit with power, threw tremendous heat, leaped tall buildings in a single bound and shot lightning bolts from his arse, the kinds of tools that led the Devil Rays to sign him to a minor-league contract. The future was bright as could be for Nash, at least until he struggled in professional games and then got in trouble for having sex with an underage girl back home in Sorrento, LA. A few more arrests followed which queered a deal he signed with the Reds and Nash now sits alongside Sidd Finch, Roy Hobbs and Steve Nebraska as a figment of uncanny talent in our imagination.
I thought of Nash this morning when I read the New York Times article about Walter Thomas, a plus-size defensive tackle who figures to be picked in this weekend's draft. Thomas doesn't have the pedigree of an Alan Branch or Amobi Okoye. He's played just two games in the last two years for NW Mississippi Community College because he was arrested on a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery. That's not the only demerit in his folio, Thomas started his career at Oklahoma State but failed out of school and he showed up a day late for his interview with Times writer Lee Jenkins.
All of those red flags are weighed against Thomas' positives and his legend. He's 6'5" and 375 pounds, the kind of size that's made Ted Washington and Jamal Williams successful NFL tackles and he's blessed with athletic ability that's usually only found in smaller men.
Thomas has run the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds, faster than some N.F.L. tight ends. He is the rare tackle who can catch a running back from behind.
“The guy is a dadgum Russian gymnast,” said Randy Pippin, the head coach at Northwest Mississippi. Thomas’s flexibility has become part of his lore. He does handstands and handsprings, broad jumps and cartwheels. When he gets excited, he will do a back flip.
He wasn't on anyone's radar screen until a postseason Texas vs. The Nation All-Star game where he opened the eyes of scouts and bloggers and has steadily moved up draft boards since then. He's ranked as the #15 defensive tackle now, a rare case of a player truly coming from nowhere to a potential game-changer for one team. The Jets, Dolphins and Browns have all met with Thomas and he's sure to go off the board before the seventh round has come to an end.
How high can you pick a player with physical ability and such a checkered past? The Jets had luck when they took such a player in Laveranues Coles but would they take a risk on Thomas in the third round? They don't have a fourth round pick and with the buzz growing he may not be around when they pick again in round five. I'd opt for a player with more of a track record myself no matter how fast Thomas is or how much he can bench press. He seems like a talent who will always remain unfulfilled because he can't control himself long enough to make it all work. Like Toe Nash I don't think the facts will ever add up to the story.
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