Georgia Tech NFL Draft Profile: Charlie Thomas

Where will Charlie Thomas land in the 2023 NFL Draft?

For a player who totaled more than 100 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions last season, Charlie Thomas is not getting a lot of love ahead of April's NFL Draft. If not for two targeting penalties that made him miss two halves (the first half against Western Carolina and the first half against Pitt), Thomas would likely have led Georgia Tech in tackles and could have made first-team All-ACC if that had happened. Even after his impressive performance at the NFL Combine and pro day, Thomas is still one of the most underrated players in the 2023 NFL Draft. Whoever gets him will get an explosive playmaker at linebacker who is always around the ball and flying around. 

Thomas arrived at Georgia Tech in 2018 and it did not take long for him to get on the field. Thomas saw action in ten games and started six games at outside linebacker. He finished the season with 47 tackles, one sack, and one pass deflection. 

Appearing in every game in 2019, including five starts, Thomas raised his numbers and finished with 65 tackles, two forced fumbles, two sacks, and two pass deflections. 

During the COVID season in 2020, Thomas totaled 18 tackles and two sacks. 

Where will Charlie Thomas land in the 2023 NFL Draft? / Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

In 2021, Thomas earned an All-ACC honorable mention for the season that he put together. He set career highs in tackles (70) and sacks (3) and also had a forced fumble. 

His best season came in his last one. Thomas developed into a playmaker during the 2022 season and was one of the most important players on the team, let alone the defense. 

Thomas had a fantastic season that resulted in him earning second-team All-ACC from the AP. He finished the 2022 season with over 100 tackles, had two sacks, two pass deflections, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles. He was a constant playmaker for the Yellow Jackets and he is not going to be easy to replace. 

Let's take a closer look at Thomas' PFF (Pro Football Focus) grades throughout his career as a Yellow Jacket.

During his freshman season in 2018, Thomas played 412 total snaps and finished with a 62.0 grade overall, a 64.0 grade on run defense, a 50.5 tackling grade, a 60.1 pass-rush grade, and a 60.4 grade in coverage, playing a total of 122 snaps in coverage. Those were solid numbers for a freshman and he hoped to improve those in the years to come.

In 2019, Thomas played a similar number of snaps in 2019 as he did in 2018, playing 419 total snaps. He finished with a 62.6 grade on defense, with a 55.7 grade in run defense, 59.4 in tackling, 62.8 pass rush, and a 70.0 grade in coverage, playing 139 total snaps in coverage.

2020 saw Thomas play 246 snaps and earn a career-low grade of 54.4 on defense with a 63.3 run defense grade, 69.9 tackling grade, 57.4 pass rushing grade, and a 47.1 grade in coverage.

In 2021 and 2022, Thomas saw his snap counts increase each season and had the best two seasons of his career. He played 614 total snaps and had a career-best 71.6 grade on defense, with a 63.4 grade on run defense, 70.5 tackling grade, 58.3 pass rush, and an 80.5 coverage grade in 228 coverage snaps. 

This past season, Thomas finished with a 65.2 grade in 766 total snaps, with a 58.8 run defense grade, 75.8 in tackling, 75.6 pass rush, and a 70.1 grade in coverage in 298 coverage snaps.

If you trust the PFF numbers, I think you can see the kind of player that Thomas could be in the NFL. Because of his size at 6'2 207 LBS, I don't think that Thomas is going to be a traditional linebacker that plays a lot of snaps in the box. I think he could make a mark as a safety or linebacker in nickel packages that is used in coverage and as a blitzer. Thomas tallied 10 career sacks at Georgia Tech, as well as reeling in four interceptions. His coverage grades of 80.5 in 2021 and 70.1 in 2022 suggest that there is potential for Thomas to be a good coverage player and the 10 sacks show he can be an effective blitzer from different places around the field.

Georgia Tech linebacker Charlie Thomas had an impressive NFL Combine / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Our NFL Draft site here at FanNation gave an evaluation of Thomas back in December and here is what they had to say about his NFL future:

"Stringy but chiseled musculature. Will that can also play as an overhang or spy in sub-packages. Rangy and sideline-sideline flow immediately stands out. Knows when to trigger on QB vs stay in pass coverage. Great feet and shuffle keep him in every play with the ability to scrape and finish. Poor eyes. Lack of awareness as a zone dropper. Seems to rely on pure athleticism as of now. Brings himself to traffic. Poor angles and fundamental tackling issues as a Blitzer and in the open field. Thomas is an athletic linebacker that can scrape, shed, and finish with the best of them. His overall utility is countered by his size though, as he is too slight to play on a down-in, down-out basis. That’s ok given today’s schemes and personnel packages where defensive coordinators leverage speed over size to combat today’s NFL offenses. A situational role will be his best fit but with an acceptance to the shrine bowl and athletic testing still to come, these endeavors could bump his draft positioning"

With the impressive season that he had, Thomas then got a chance to play in the East-West Shrine Game in Las Vegas and played well. Then it was time to get ready for the NFL Combine and that is where Thomas shined.

For starters, Thomas showed his speed during the 40-yard dash and ran an official time of 4.52, which was the seventh fastest among linebackers that tested. 

Speedy group of LBs.

📺: #NFLCombine on @nflnetwork
📱: Stream on NFL+ pic.twitter.com/4XxNMCI35C

— NFL (@NFL) March 3, 2023

It was not just the 40 time that was impressive for Thomas. He tested well in the other drills too.  Thomas looked smooth in the drills and that is something that you see on film. Thomas flies around and gets to the ball and makes plays. His instincts show in every game and I think that is one of the things that sets him apart from other linebackers in this draft.

Charlie Thomas 😮#NFLCombine March 2-5 on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/QR76uB6BAm

— Georgia Tech Football (@GeorgiaTechFB) March 3, 2023

At his pro day this past Thursday, Thomas measured in well (6'3 219 LBS) and went through on-field drills. Thomas looked crisp during drills and explosive, which was not a surprise. 

After his pro day, Thomas said that he had a workout with the New Orleans Saints and will also work out at the local day for the Atlanta Falcons. 

I think that Thomas is not being talked about enough as a potential draft pick and impact player at the next level. Georgia Tech was a noticeably better defense when he was out there and he just has a knack for making plays at the right time. I think he is one of the most underrated linebackers in this draft and is set to make an NFL team glad they took a chance on him this April. 

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