Odell Thurman (1 Viewer)

[Renegades of Funk]

From watching the Bengals preseason game it is obvious Thurman is a playmaker. There were several plays that jumped out at me. The Pats were running a stretch play and Thurman manuevered through the traffic to smack the RB at the line of scrimmage. On another play Thurman was engaged with a lineman and the RB was trying to go by him, Thurman shed that block at the perfect time and put a big hit on the RB. Another play that wasn't real positive was when he went in and jumped to bat down a ball only to have the QB pull it down - he was way off the ground, he must have a huge vertical. They also mentioned that the Bengals LB coach said he would be shocked if Thurman wasn't the defensive rookie of the year. I just keep feeling better about getting him in my rookie draft.

 

[GridironMenace]

Does he start? Is he a 3 down LB?WLB, MLB or SLB?

 

[slayer666]

Does he start? 

Is he a 3 down LB?

WLB, MLB or SLB?

Yes, Unsure (this wasn't a strength in college) and MLB.I watched a good portion of the Patriots/Bengals game this evening and came away with the same feelings as Renegades of Funk. Odell Thurman clearly stood out in this game with several nice plays, while displaying serious athleticism.

He had 7 solos tonight and looked like he belonged in the starting lineup to me.

 

[Rozelle]

Yep! Thurman looked good. 7-0-0

 

[ffchamp1]

Yep! Thurman looked good. 7-0-0

I haven't seen the game yet, but I found it odd that Landon Johnson also started, at SLB.Did Thurman have 7 tackles because he played alot?

Tom

 

[Xtreme Commish]

He did play alot, but he does look good...He is going to start and be a 3 down LBLandon Johnson will start at SLB, atleast at the beginning of the season

 

[inbreeder]

Thurman played most of three quarters, with both the first and second team defense. Overall he played well. Looked to shed blockers well, excellent pursuit to the ball when under control, and showed sure tackling. He did overrun a couple of plays, and, as posted above, blew a sack by leaping about 2 1/2 feet in the air on a pump fake. Most of his assignment errors and the like looked to be of the "trying too hard" variety. He's going to be very, very good. Had he been in position on every play, he'd have had 9 or 10 solo tackles. Unfortunately, he could be seen chasing Dillon and/or Pass downfield at least twice.Hard to say right now if he'll be a 3 down player or not. Brian Simmons will be on the field on passing downs for sure. Landon Johnson has proven himself in passing situations as well. Webster did have a role in the pass defense briefly last season, so Thurman may have as well. Thurman was on the field sporadically during third down situations last night, but that was without Pollack around. Pollack will rush third downs obviously, but Marvin likes to have Clemons, Geathers, and Smith on the field in passing situations as well. If the Bengals use an interior lineman like Thornton (who can also provide a bit of a pass rush) on third downs, Thurman could go to the bench now and then. All that said, Thurman will get plenty of opportunity as a two and a half down backer.Landon Johnson was an OLB in college and it looks to be where Marvin would prefer to have him. He's going to see significant playing time during the first month of the season, regardless of how soon Pollack gets into camp. Looked good at the point of attack last night. His play helped Thurman to look as good as he did.

 

[Xtreme Commish]

Good post inbreeder

 

[jchap31]

Actually according to NFL.com play-by play, Thurman was in on 3rd and 2, 3rd and 5, and a 3rd and 15 and made the tackle all three times. It wasn't until the 3rd quarter when brian williams made some plays on 3rd down. take it for what it's worth

 

[deacon14]

Funny, as I called him the defensive player of the night on Friday. They were flip-flopping all the games on the NFL network and I was like who the hell is wearing #51 on the Bengals now. I, actually, went and looked him up on the team homepage. If I played in IDP leagues, and I don't, I'd know his exact ADP and target where I could land him safely.Looks good to me and would look real good in Eagle Green. He probably fell to the second round cuz of that nasty concept "disciplinary issues."

 

[Bob Magaw]

for a while now i have been using vilma as a comp player for thurman... after seeing how he looked against new england, i think he is capable of a better debut than vilma (saying a lot, as vilma was DROY).although this was sure to put tremendous pressure on the kid, there were whispers from bengals camp that this guy has a little ray lewis in him (& marvin lewis ought to know, as he was at BAL with ray ray)... the natural inclination is to think, yeah, right... now i see what the ruckus is about.thurman was all over the field... he has the instincts to almost always be flowing in the rigt direction, the power to scrape off blocks & the speed & athleticism to range sideline to sideline.we are about to see the future of MLB in the NFL, & the future is odell thurman.if he stays healthy, i think 100 solos are within his capability, which should put him in the top 5-10.i've already seen enuf to move him ahead of thomas davis & tatupu as the favorite for DROY in next install of ETTG... if davis is moved in the future full time to WLB, he should be a comparable prospect (a monster & force in his own right... amazing that they were on same defense with pollack at georgia).i wouldn't compare him to lewis yet... but i can't think of a rookie MLB who has impressed me more since lewis.

 

[ffchamp1]

for a while now i have been using vilma as a comp player for thurman... after seeing how he looked against new england, i think he is capable of a better debut than vilma (saying a lot, as vilma was DROY).

although this was sure to put tremendous pressure on the kid, there were whispers from bengals camp that this guy has a little ray lewis in him (& marvin lewis ought to know, as he was at BAL with ray ray)... the natural inclination is to think, yeah, right... now i see what the ruckus is about.

thurman was all over the field... he has the instincts to almost always be flowing in the rigt direction, the power to scrape off blocks & the speed & athleticism to range sideline to sideline.

we are about to see the future of MLB in the NFL, & the future is odell thurman.

if he stays healthy, i think 100 solos are within his capability, which should put him in the top 5-10.

i've already seen enuf to move him ahead of thomas davis & tatupu as the favorite for DROY in next install of ETTG... if davis is moved in the future full time to WLB, he should be a comparable prospect (a monster & force in his own right... amazing that they were on same defense with pollack at georgia).

i wouldn't compare him to lewis yet... but i can't think of a rookie MLB who has impressed me more since lewis.

Bob hit it right on the head there with the comparison to Ray Lewis. Thurman still looks to have trouble with the play coming right at him but has the speed/instincts to roam sideline to sideline with reckless abandon, much the same way Lewis did.DROY is possible but I see 100 tackles as a given if healthy.

Tom

 

[inbreeder]

Actually according to NFL.com play-by play, Thurman was in on 3rd and 2, 3rd and 5, and a 3rd and 15 and made the tackle all three times. It wasn't until the 3rd quarter when brian williams made some plays on 3rd down. take it for what it's worth

He was in on quite a few third downs in the first preseason game. I agree on taking things for what they're worth. He'll probably be in on all third and short situations. I'd think the Patriot game was a situation where the coaching staff wants to see what he can do in third and long situations (and to be honest, he got beat by Pass on a circle route, he had to run down Givens in the middle, and he blew a sack in the midst of all his good plays). Again, Pollack isn't around to take some of this playing time, Johnson dinged his shoulder in the second quarter, and the Bengals have but a few LB on the preseason roster.I'm as big a homer as anyone on Thurman (just ask Norton how angry I've made him a couple of times this offseason), and I strongly feel that he'll have the highest impact of any IDP in this class (with TDavis a very close second). To reiterate what's been said in a couple of prior posts, Thurman is likely a better talent than the three headed monster of Nate Webster/Caleb Miller/Landon Johnson, and that crew was top 10 in most IDP scoring systems in 2004.

But I'm not convinced that he'll be in many third and long packages with 3 WR on the field just yet. Have to be very careful reading into NFL gamebooks at times, especially in the preseason when teams are evaluating so many different things.