Why Ambry Thomas is Just the Player the 49ers Needed
"I feel like my play will take care of my pockets."
That is what cornerback Ambry Thomas said at 49ers rookie mini-camp on Friday in regards to the cost of living in the bay area.
Rather than continuing to harp about the price and how much of his salary will go into it, Thomas had no worries or concern. In his eyes, he envisions the costs as nothing because he knows he is going to break the bank with his performance in the foreseeable future.
Thomas is just the player the 49ers needed in the secondary.
Where Ahkello Witherspoon had a fragile mind, Thomas has a strong and unwavering one. At least, that is the way he carries himself. So far, Thomas is just exuding strong confidence and that is a major part about playing cornerback. Once your confidence is shot, you start second guessing everything. You hesitate and struggle to trust your technique or just make a play on the ball.
Thomas has yet to demonstrate his skills, obviously, but one thing is certain -- he will not fail because he doesn't believe in himself. He is going to push himself to understand the defensive system and carve himself out a role in the defense.
"I got speed and I'm long and the defense we run, if I'm at the nickel or the cornerback spot I can make plays on the ball. Like, make a lot of plays on the ball. Put me in a position to win I feel like and I just got to get used to the whole playbook, but once I feel like I got that, it's over. It's over."
This is the only way for Thomas to talk about himself. There has to be confidence, and even some cockiness. Cornerbacks need to be a dog and that is what he mentioned when it came to his unfortunate encounter with colitis.
"Just looking back on it, I feel like it was one of the greater points to my college career because it really turned on my dog mentality even more. It just lit something up inside of me even more."
Thomas is a fighter. He proved that to work the point he was to be a productive college cornerback and he proved that when he endured colitis. To his credit, it even proved beneficial to him. This is the type of player the 49ers have needed in the secondary. Adding sweet talent is great and all, but there has to be serious consideration of who the player is.
With Thomas, it would not surprise me to see him to start to seriously ascend as the season progresses.
