49ers Should Continue to Roll Ambry Thomas as the Starter

Ambry Thomas made his third career start against the Titans.

The 49ers are forced to start Thomas with Emmanuel Moseley nursing a high ankle sprain. Thomas has been quite the roller coaster ride this season. His rookie year has gone exactly how you would expect for a rookie. A lot of lows with a couple of highs.

However, against the Titans on Thursday night football, Thomas played exceptionally well.

He wasn't great by any means, but there were certainly things to like from him. Ryan Tannehill targeted Thomas five times and he allowed only two catches on 46 yards with two pass breakups tallied. Now, he did allow a big play to A.J. Brown which accounted for 42 of his 46 yards. But there was a suspect offensive pass interference not called there.

Thomas ultimately was solid and that is all you can ask of him this early in his career.

The 49ers should continue to roll with Thomas as the starter.

Of course, this should only last until Moseley becomes available. But Thomas must not have his progress cut off. The 49ers need to commit to him as the starter. There are things to like that have even gotten me to change my stance on Thomas starting.

The reality is that even though Thomas can be a roller coaster, how much better or worse are the 49ers if they start Dontae Johnson?

It makes more sense to roll with Thomas. At least there are long-term benefits to it. I'm not even sure that starting Johnson makes any difference at all. Anyone who has watched the Niners understands what the team is going to get from Johnson. No one knows what Thomas is going to give. Right now, he is coming off a solid game that can act as a confidence builder for him.

If he gets the start again, he'll get an easier matchup than he did with the Titans. The 49ers host the Texans who only have Brandin Cooks as the real threat. This is just the perfect game for a rookie to continue to get his feet wet.

Thomas may be a liability for the 49ers defense, but so is Josh Norman. Having weak cornerbacks hasn't totally hurt the 49ers. They've been able to manage it. In fact, they were managing quite fine for the first three quarters against the Titans.

Continue to start Thomas and see what you have in him.

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