At some point, Andrew Thomas will receive special attention. He is a beginner, long-bodied, who needs guidance in the field from someone with the size and expertise to show Thomas what he must do to make it big as an NFL offensive tackle.
There is the benefit of talking about what to do and it is best that the discussion is followed up by showing how to solve it. Marc Colombo, a big man, can really look down on Thomas 6-foot-5 and it won’t take long for even first-year Giants from Georgia to realize that his offensive line coach is in a state of constant amped up condition ride.
“I want to tell you, if he makes these people play as he does … he is tougher than s-t now,” Dan Shonka, general manager and national talent scout at the NFL Scouting Service Ourlads, said The Post. “I’m sure he will train these people, when they get hit he will make them sting people. Marc will knock your ass back when he punches and he is a very physical player.”
Thomas, in particular, should benefit from having Colombo work with him every day. Colombo did this not long ago, because he took four years working with the Cowboy’s offensive linemen into his new assignment with the Giants. Colombo, though, based on his 10-year career playing NFL on toughness and using his size (6-foot-8, 315 pounds) to benefit. Thomas is considered the most ready-NFL tackles in the NFL draft – he occupies the 4th position overall – and is expected to immediately climb to the top of the charts to play with Nate Solder as the initial tackle. Another beginner tackle, Matt Peart, is taller (6-foot-7) than Thomas and even has longer arms, although Peart is likely to spend his first season getting stronger and under development.
“We are different animals, we are different races, we have different training,” said Shaun OHara, the initial center on the XLII Super Bowl Giants team. “When you have an O-line coach who can really show you how to kick – glide or, ‘Hey, look, I’ve handled it.’ You got a long, skinny tackle, Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart – guess what Marc Colombo was when he came out? He was a tall and thin first round draft pick. ‘I’m struggling lower, how do I deal with it?’ ‘How do you stop an insider’s movement as a big, tall man? I have to find a way to fix all of that. “He can show you because he does it.”
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Another former Giants lineman, Chris Snee – a former Colombo teammate at Boston College – said he believes Colombo will really help Thomas “. O’Hara called Thomas “the choice of the slam dunk” because “he was the best tackle in the draft. ‘
Then this summer, Colombo will finally assess Thomas directly and real work will begin.
