Georgia Football: Has Andrew Thomas solidified himself as top 10 pick?

Coming into the 2019 season as the top tackle in the 2020 NFL Draft, Georgia football’s Andrew Thomas has some competition for the top spot.

At the beginning of the 2019 season, the offensive tackle class was largely thought to be Andrew Thomas and everyone else. He had another really solid season but there have been some other guys that have emerged as possibilities to be the first offensive tackle taken.

Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, Alabama’s Jedrick Wills and Louisville’s Mekhi Becton have all emerged as possible alternatives to Thomas and it really is anyone’s guess who will be the first offensive tackle off the board.

Thomas has helped anchor a dominant Georgia offensive line for the past few years and has been very well coached by now-Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman and that will be helpful to him in his NFL career.

Thomas arrived in Athens as a four-star offensive tackle and a part of Kirby Smart’s first full recruiting class at Georgia. One thing that was obvious from Smart’s 2017 recruiting class was that he had a vision for what kind of football team that he wanted to put on the field and he put a big emphasis on the offensive line.

Although Isaiah Wilson was the higher-rated recruit, Thomas was going to be the anchor for the Bulldogs for the next three seasons. As a freshman in 2017, Thomas started all 15 games for the Bulldogs at right tackle and was a part of a dominant rushing attack that included Nick Chubb and Sony Michel and helped them to the national title against Alabama. He was moved over to left tackle and that’s where Thomas started to draw the attention of NFL personnel.

Though Thomas did miss one game due to an ankle injury, he had an outstanding season and earned second team AP All-American honors and first-team All-SEC honors as well and that’s a very high honor because the conference is always putting out high quality play in the trenches.

Thomas entered 2019 with a lot of hype because he was supposed to anchor a Bulldogs offensive line that was supposed to be one of the best in the country and be the first offensive lineman taken in the upcoming NFL draft. He did not disappoint and again earned All-American and All-SEC honors.

Strengths

Thomas is an elite run blocker who plays with excellent leverage and has very good footwork. He is also a good athlete who moves well when run blocking and is powerful and does not get beaten at the point attack. Sets and moves feet well in pass pro and does not get beaten around the edge.

He’s been very well coached the past three seasons at Georgia and faced top competition in the SEC and excelled.

Weaknesses

My biggest knock on Thomas is that he may have already hit his ceiling as a player because he has not shown massive improvement in the past two season he has played at left tackle. He is a good but not elite pass protector and he actually would have a higher ceiling if he moved to guard. He’s not the most impressive athlete and that is evidenced by his 5.22 40-yard dash.

Draft Projection

Thomas has the lowest ceiling, but the highest floor of the top four offensive tackle prospects. By that I mean that he’s the safest pick of the four but probably does not have the potential of the other three. Thomas is well worth a top 15 selection and could be a solid NFL lineman at either tackle or guard.

Projection: Top 15