Andrew Thomas Reveals Where He's Grown the Most
Giants first-round draft pick Andrew Thomas hasn't had his name mentioned in a few weeks now, and that's a good thing.
It means that Thomas, whose NFL career got off to a rocky start, has settled down in his role at left tackle on the Giants offensive line,
"For me, the thing that stands out the most would probably be the inside move," Thomas said when asked what's been the most significant change in his play that's led to more success.
"That was something in the beginning that I really struggled with, you know, oversetting, and it's something that I've been working on for the last few weeks that I'm trying to get better at. I think that's made the biggest difference."
Improving against blocking the inside move and other things has undoubtedly paid off for the former Georgia star.
After allowing 39 total pressures (out of his 44 on the season) in the first eight games of the season, Thomas has locked down his side and allowed just five total pressures in his last four games, the last two of which he's pitched a pass-blocking shutout.
"It's just latching on the defender the right way," Thomas said of how he's fixed the inside move.
"I would overset a lot of times and put myself in a bad position. But you have to trust your athleticism to push the guy around the pocket."
And is that coming about by using the same technique as he did in college?
"I would say a little bit different far as my hand placement. That's been something that I've been working on--that and then set wise a little bit at Georgia," he said.
"I was always on a straight 45 angle. But I recently had been working a little bit more vertical to enable set just depending on the alignment of rushers."
Thomas has put been able to refine his technique against the Giants' defensive linemen in practice. In particular, Leonard Williams, the team's sack leader this season with 8.5, has been a big challenge for him to go against.
"It's just a great opportunity for me playing against a vet like that," Thomas said. "Leonard is very talented (so) playing against him every everyday practice makes me a better player."
What's also helped to make Thomas a better player is learning to block out the external noise from the critics who earlier in the season didn't treat him as kindly as the other offensive tackles drafted in the first round.
"That was something that (Head) Coach (Joe) Judge talked about from the beginning," Thomas said.
"I knew it coming in, you know, playing for the New York Giants--huge media market. I wasn't unaware (of the potential for chatter), but actually being in it, it's definitely a different experience.
"So that's a big thing that I learned to do, whether you're performing well or not. You have to keep a level head. Eventually, things may work out for you, but even they don't, continue to work hard and try not to pay attention to outside noise."
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