Jaheim Thomas Puts on Show Against Catamounts

Razorbacks’ move away from traditional defensive sets will pay off with more talent

Author:
Jacob Davis
Publish date:
Sep 3, 2023 5:05 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — To have more of an effective defense against high powered spread offense these days takes having speed at linebacker. It's the name of the game offensively.

Arkansas been slighted in such a way they couldn’t matchup well defensively. Sure the Razorbacks have been blessed with throwback linebackers like Grant Morgan, Hayden Henry, Dejon Harris, Dre Greenlaw and Bumper Pool for the past decade. However, it’s been too long of a wait to move toward a speed focused defense.

An old coaching adage says "if you don't have speed, you're chasing speed." For the Hogs, they may actually have the speed at the edges to put a halt to so many big plays. Transfer Jaheim Thomas displayed his speed keeping the Western Carolina defense behind the sticks on multiple possessions to start the game. The former Bearcat is an instinctual playmaker according to a Cincinnati insider.

"[Thomas] is a guy who can really get after the quarterback," said Neil Meyer of Front Office Sports. "He had a great 2022 season. Similar play style to Drew Sanders. Can use him in many ways. Great instincts. Always around the ball."

According to Pro Football Focus, Thomas finished the day with a grade of 70.3 which was 11th highest on the team. Although, he didn't lead the team on the grading scale his impact as the leading tackler shouldn't go unnoticed. He led the team in tackles and helped take away the short passing game that the Catamounts love to implement early on. With 8 tackles and 1.5 TFL, Thomas will surely factor in the top rotation at linebacker moving forward.

PFF also gave Thomas the second highest rush defense grade on the team at 79.5. The Hogs only gave up 28 rushing yards through three quarters.

"I thought he played really well," coach Sam Pittman said after Saturday's 56-13 win at War Memorial Stadium. "Didn't see him miss many tackles. Maybe there was one on the running back outside, I don't think that was. What a nice pickup for us. Just a wonderful kid, wonderful family. He's a guy that played at Cincinnati. You can get them on the field a little bit faster, so yeah, I was really happy with him. He was happy after the game, so I'd imagine he played well."

One facet of the game that will be picked apart throughout the week was the Hogs' opportunistic defense that forced 5 turnovers, scoring 28 points off of them. That may not be seen each week but it does show that DC Travis Williams may put a premium on forcing mistakes by opponents.

"He preached to us all week, turnovers, turnovers, turnovers," Thomas said. "That was our game plan. We wanted to add turnovers. Make plays. Just having us out there flying around and able to make those plays when the opportunities came, that really helped us."

Now they just have to do it again. Kent State is next in the home opener for the Hogs on Saturday at Razorback Stadium. The game will kick off at 3 p.m. on the SEC Network at fuboTV .