Rams have an INTRIGUING offensive guard in Zach Thomas

Intro this video is brought to you by bet us Sportsbook and casino welcome back folks I'm Jake Ellen ban today we're gonna be talking about Zachary Thomas also known as Zach Thomas I believe he's just going to go by Zach Thomas but anyway not the Dolphins uh linebacker no we're talking about the Rams offensive lineman before we dive into it be sure to like subscribe and comment also be sure to follow me on all social media at JK Bogen and of course on Instagram and just to let you know sponsor for this video is BET us you can get 125% bonus signing up today using my promo Link in the comment section and the description below you can use that up to three times and up to $2,000 so go ahead use that promo code and get in on BET us all right guys so look Zach Thomas is somebody that you probably know of because he actually basically started a game he played the majority of the game against the Bengals in week three at 11 tackle and he was not good Zach Thomas at all he struggled mightily um but number 57 on the LA Rams might actually have a future on this team and I was going through it watched some tape on him and I I really wanted to focus on the pre-season here with him because I understand you know not the best competition um but what I think is often misunderstood is that in the preseason on the offensive line line if you're able to stand out at all you are a good football player and what I mean by that is this on the offensive line everyone talks about oh they're going up against second and third stringers yeah they're also working with second and third stringers guys that they've probably never even worked with before in that capacity at that competitive nature and Zach Thomas looked pretty good in preseason last year so we're going to talk about it he's 26 years of age he's a three-year Pro and this guy 65 305 lb has this basically a start at left tackle in the NFL um but he predominantly played left guard even going back to he was drafted in the sixth round out of San Diego State by the Chicago Bears they played him at left guard in preseason um but this guy just want to let you guys know because I don't think a lot of people are aware of this his R score which of course Ras is relative Athletic score and what that means is essentially you are taking everything that he did in the pre-draft process and you're putting them into numbers so you're you're basically taking every single person every single player that has ever done the 40 time uh basing on their position and you're putting them where you know they would be as far as percentiles and I'll tell you right now you might not even realize this Zach Thomas is incredibly athletic and it actually makes a lot of sense because he's really good in the Run game and you know I think he's really good as far as just getting on the move I think I think it's why he struggled a little bit at left tackle but I don't hate the Rams for essentially giving him an opportunity at left tackle last year so look uh 96th percentile three cone 99th percentile 10 yard split uh 97th percentile 20 yard split a 97th percentile 40 yard dash um a 84th percentile broad jump 83rd percentile in height and 81st percentile in shuttle now that's not everybody that's offensive lineman only so uh that's a big deal you're talking about an athletic guy here for the Rams and while he doesn't fit you know essentially their new archetype where they like the 330lb guards or even 340 Um Zack Thomas can make up for that with his athleticism and they are actually using him so I want to I want to bring this up he played one game last year 35 snaps against the Bengals he gave up two sacks five pressures a penalty at left tackle um I do think he played worse than say the stat show but I'm going to give him a break because he was going up against I believe at the time I want to say it was uh Hendrickson but it might have been the other guy whose name is totally blanking on me but I think it was Trey Hendrickson um so that's not an easy matchup at all um so that's something I wanted to point out early early on in this video but also um you know he did not give up a sack in 85 snaps during preseason at mainly left guard for the Rams so uh the the film shows that I mean he looked good at left tackle he looked natural there and so I think he's really just a left tack sorry left guard excuse me left guard I think he's mainly just a left guard uh not to say he could never play Right Guard but I think he's had a lot of success at left guard and so that's really where he should be he had 77 snaps with the Bears at left guard gave up a sack and three pressures in preseason in 2022 um and at San Diego State he gave up five sacks and 31 pressures in 863 pass protection snaps and again once again he was mainly a left guard so uh run blocker for sure okay this guy is a work in progress and pass protection but I think with the Rams and having the coaching staff they have and having Ryan Wendell and having Mike munack I think there's a lot to like here uh with the athletic profile of Thomas and he had Elite run blocking grades in 2021 and 2022 his last year's in college at San Diego State according to PFF which is really it's really good um but you know the question is can he Can he make the roster well two things can he improve his pass protection and can he make the roster well the good news is for Thomas the Rams option at left guard with Jonah Jackson down and Al Jackson down you have Joe Noom now left tackle currently um you know we saw in the the you know joint practice well guess who was that left guard it wasn't a rookie wasn't Bo limmer wasn't KT leveston they didn't you know move Warren mclenon over there it was actually Zach Thomas Zack Thomas you that is right Zack Thomas was at left guard so he's getting these early looks and it's really intriguing to me because it goes to show this is a guy that maybe I might have ruled out a little too quickly maybe you might have um in doing a 53-man roster you know I think we tend to lean towards Logan bruss but now bruss didn't even get a chance to start uh with the right tackle out Warren McLendon was there I mentioned that in a previous video so now here we are Zack Thomas left guard where he's comfortable and the things I heard it wasn't great okay uh the Chargers really outplayed the Rams their defense outplayed the Rams offensive line but the big thing for him is going to be preseason okay I think it really is right now former six round pick from the 2022 draft by the Chicago Bears he's got a good track to make this roster because right now the joint practice he's ahead of KT leveston and Bo limmer he's ahead of and it also helps cuz he can also play tackle not saying he should play tackle but he could we already know that um he's ahead of Logan Is he a priority backup bruss bruss can't play tackle he well can't play guard he's essentially just a tackle so this is somebody that after further evaluation and this is why I do these videos because I do the research and then I'm like oh crap um yeah this guy might actually be better than we realized Zach Thomas could actually be carving out a role for himself as a priority backup on this team and maybe even carve his way into the starting rotation you know if somebody gets hurt and he could stick there uh the athletic profile is very enticing and if he's willing to get you know if he gets better as a pass protector he's got enough in the Run game where this is going to be a very run heavy offense doesn't mean they're going to be run first or run only but they will be run heavy they have two running backs that can run the football and Kiren Williams and Blake corm and I do think that ultimately he fits that now again he is going to be a free agent in 2025 but he's going to be a restricted free agent in 2025 and the Rams like to do this when they go out and they get somebody like that and you're talking about restrictive free agency um they like to bring these guys back and Thomas there's been some development there he's been now around for two years I don't think the Rams are just about to get rid of him and cut him because I think some team would pick him up so I like Zack Thomas the 26 y old um he's not going to be around forever but I do like him and I'm excited to see him in preseason he's rocking number 57 not hard to miss on the offensive line and while he's not a tackle we already really looked at that against the Bengals I'm excited and enticed about his opportunity to play guard so as this Series has gone you want to Zach Thomas in 2024 know what does his 2024 look like what is the preview there well I think it's very clear that the Rams are going to have some concerns I I mean there's no way you can tell me the three out of the five starting offensive linemen have already gotten hurt in training camp there's no way you can tell me that all of these Five Guys the main guys we're talking aler Jackson Jonah Jackson Steve Ula Kevin doson and Rob havenstein there's no way you could tell me all five of those guys are going to play all 17 games and into the playoffs and they're not going to miss a game no chance so I do think there's an opportunity here for Zack Thomas and as a matter of fact when you talk about guys like a Jonah Jackson who has not been able to play a full season in I think two three years uh he's been banged up the last two years then yeah I think Zack Thomas if he's already getting those reps if he can build off this and show out during pre-season he is going to get an opportunity to play for this team now does that make you excited does it scare you that remains to be seen but I think you could definitely see number 57 Zack Thomas on the Rams offensive line this year now the hope is everyone stays healthy but I do think Thomas is getting valuable reps and it could end up really helping him out down the line we'll see what ends up happening be sure to like subscribe and comment if you haven't already and check out bet us for 125% uh Bonus Match uh three times your first three deposits up to $2,000 so that's going to do it appreciate you guys drop a comment below curious what you guys think about Zach Thomas and I'll see you guys in the next video take care folks later do you love talking about the Rams the NFL or just want to be a part of a community join my free Discord server today we're over 800 members we got 24/7 live chat a level three boosted server the ability to call into J live playing on online games with us on Kick streams toggleable alerts for when I go live on YouTube or kick so you don't miss a live stream and exclusive giveaways click the link in the description the comment section or the link that comes up in the video to learn more and join today [Music]