2007 NFL Draft Player Reviews – OL Joe Thomas
Central High School in Brookfield Wisconsin should be proud of its very own Joe Thomas. The 6’8 313lb LT is the best OL in the country, NO HANDS. He is also possibly the most athletic. He played manager for the Badgers last year when they got into trouble.
Thomas is projected to be among the top three overall picks in the 2007 National Football League Draft by ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr., Scouts Inc., and us here at the War Room. Thomas was named to the 2006 Playboy All-America Team, the 2006 Preseason All-American First Team, and the number one offensive tackle in the country according to The War Room. A second-team preseason All-American according to Lindy’s and Street & Smith’s, Thomas was selected on the 2006 preseason watch lists for the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award and was assigned the only one-on-one block on the offensive line. from UW, 90 percent of the time the past two seasons.
In 2005, Thomas was a first-team All-American according to Pro Football Weekly and a second-team All-American according to Walter Camp, SI.com and Rivals.com. A consensus first-team All-Big Ten, Thomas was a Lombardi Award semifinalist. An ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 5 honoree, Thomas was an Academic All-Big Ten pick, where he started all 13 games at left tackle and was named UW vs. Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Bowling Green and Penn State. Thomas earned the third varsity card and injured his right knee while filling in for the depleted defensive line in the Capital One Bowl vs. Chestnut.
Thomas earned the second varsity letter in 2004 when he started all 12 regular season games at left tackle. He was an honorable mention consensus All-Big Ten pick and named Academic All-Big Ten and All-District Academic First Team. Thomas set the UW indoor record in the shot put with a throw of 62-0 ¼ feet, set in 2005 and was ranked in the NCAA indoor and outdoor shot put in 2005.
Thomas in 2003 earned the first varsity card and played much of the season as a TE blocker (wearing No. 82). Thomas was the first true freshman OL to see action during the Barry Alvarez era, starting at DE vs. Auburn in the Music City Bowl and assisted in seven tackles.
Thomas was ranked the No. 4 offensive tackle in the nation by Tom Lemming and among the top 20 offensive tackle nationally, top 25 players in the Midwest and No. 3 player in Wisconsin by Rivals.com. A PrepStar All-American and second-team All-America offensive tackle according to USA Today. Thomas was also a member of the Detroit Free Press All-Midwest team, and was a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel All-State First Team defensive lineman and All-State Second Team offensive tackle as a senior. Thomas was also first-team all-state honors in DE from the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association and Associated Press. The 2002 WFCA Defensive Player of the Year with fellow Badger Justin Ostrowski, he had 85 tackles and 12 QB sacks as a senior and 70 tackles and eight sacks as a junior. The three-time all-conference selection and four-year letter winner in football, track and basketball, he captained football and basketball teams as a senior and finished fifth in national shot put as a junior. Thomas was an all-conference, all-area, and all-state selection in shot put and discus…a four-year honor roll student. He also made the US Army Academic All-America team and was coached in soccer by Rick Synold at Brookfield Central High.
Majoring in business (real estate and urban land economics) makes his parents, Eric and Sally, very proud and embodies everything college sports stands for.
Joe Thomas is the highest rated OL I have since Orlando Pace (who was #1 overall). He has all the tools to be a pro for years to come and his ME game is reminiscent of HOFer (and Chaffey High School/USC alumnus) Anthony Munoz.