WHERE WILL DE’ANTHONY THOMAS LINEUP?
Thomas will be at the rookie minicamp this weekend but will miss the OTA’s during the week because school has not ended at Oregon quite yet. We won’t quite know the answer to this question by this time next week but we should get some kind of idea in the rookie minicamp.
There belief is Thomas will see a lot of time as a slot receiver in Reid’s offense but he currently listed as a wide receiver on the Chiefs’ depth chart. Thomas was listed as a running back at Oregon but all over the place in terms of where he lined up. We discussed how Thomas was used at Oregon previously.
It will be interesting to see how Thomas is eased into the offense. We know for sure he’ll see immediate impact as a kick and punt returner, so that aspect of his contribution is locked up. How the Chiefs use him on offense will seem to be centered around what he is most comfortable with and how comfortable Reid is in putting Thomas in certain situations. Do the Chiefs trust him as a blocker in the passing game as a running back? Will he understand the complexity of the routes he’ll be asked to run from multiple spots on the field?
How often Thomas is used at each position and how much they throw on him as a rookie may depend on how he responds to the rookie minicamp. Remember he’s missing a chunk of OTAs so he won’t have as much time to practice and absorb the offense as much as the other rookies will.