Four Thoughts Chiefs Training Camp: August 9
By Ben Nielsen
2. De’Anthony Thomas Getting More Wide Receiver Attention
This tweet from Terez A. Paylor is very interesting.
De'Anthony Thomas working with special projects coach Brad Childress at a WR while running backs working on screen stuff. Expanded role?
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) August 9, 2014
We saw a little bit of what Thomas brings as a return man on Thursday night with his 80-yard punt return for a touchdown, so it should be a surprise the Chiefs want to find more ways to get him on the field so they can take advantage of his skill set.
It says something the Chiefs have him getting one-on-one work with Brad Childress as oppose to having him run around with the wide receiver group. Whatever Thomas does it is going to be highly specialized within the offense. Thomas was used in all sorts of ways at Oregon so he should be familiar with lining up in non-traditional spots. The individual work with Childress may be more specific about the things the Chiefs are trying to accomplish when they split him out wide, especially when it comes to the screen game and selling the screen.
What may be even more important here is Thomas could be ahead in terms of his knowledge of the playbook and what he is supposed to be doing than what the Chiefs thought he would be at this stage. Part of the reason why Thomas was listed as a running back was to keep things as simple as possible for him as he adjusts to the NFL. It could appear the Chiefs feel confident expanding his role beyond just his running back duties.