Browns 2023 draft picks - profiles by Dane Brugler
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24. CHARLIE THOMAS | Georgia Tech 6025 | 216 lbs. | 5SR Thomasville, Ga. (Thomasville) 1/31/2000 (age 23.24) #1
BACKGROUND: Charlie Thomas, who is one of four children, grew up in south Georgia and started playing pee wee football at age 6. He attended Thomasville High School and was a four-year varsity letterman, playing on both sides of the ball. Thomas posted 62 tackles and two interceptions as a junior, earning honorable mention All-State honors. As a senior safety, he led Thomasville to an undefeated regular season and the school’s first regional title in a decade, finishing the 2017 season with a 12-1 record. Thomas posted 78 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss and one interception, adding 242 rushing yards, 442 receiving yards and five total touchdowns (three rushing, two receiving) while also seeing snaps at quarterback. He again earned All-State honors and was a U.S. Army All-American. Thomas also lettered in basketball and track and set personal bests in the long jump (14 feet 11 inches) and triple jump (33-9.5).
A three-star recruit, Thomas was the No. 48 safety in the 2018 recruiting class and the No. 67 recruit in Georgia. He picked up offers from Troy and Tulane as a sophomore and then Colorado State, South Alabama and Vanderbilt as a junior. Prior to his senior season, Thomas received several SEC offers, including Auburn, Mississippi State, Missouri and Ole Miss. But the 180-pound defensive back was drawn to Georgia Tech, which offered him as both a safety and wide receiver with the chance to play right away. He was the fifth-highest-ranked recruit in the Jackets’ 2018 class. After initially playing as a defensive back, Thomas moved to linebacker in his first season on campus. He took advantage of the extra year of eligibility because of COVID rules and returned to school for a fifth season. Thomas graduated with his degree in business administration (December 2021) and is pursuing his graduate degree in general studies in history, technology and society. He accepted his invitation to the 2023 East-West Shrine Bowl.
STRENGTHS: Unlocks his hips, trusts his eyes and immediately accelerates … above-average play speed to the perimeter, and covers a lot of green … shows secondary quickness after escaping blockers … has the athleticism to play the cutback by the ball carrier … takes fast angles downhill, and stocked his college tape with plenty of plays at or behind the line of scrimmage … range translates to coverage, including his ability to stay stride-for-stride with backs, tight ends and receivers … feels routes coming and hunts crossers … was asked to wear multiple hats based on personnel, playing a variety of nickel and linebacker alignments … had his best statistical season as a senior.
WEAKNESSES: Thin-framed and looks more like a safety than a linebacker … doesn’t have the growth potential to add much more mass … mediocre play strength and struggles to punch himself off blocks … lack of length and force will be highlighted in the tackle box … too easily knocked off schedule by roadblocks … needs to do a better job settling his feet to square up moving targets as a tackler … accelerator can get stuck in overdrive at times, allowing even slow-footed quarterbacks to shake him … had two targeting penalties in 2022 and needs to be more controlled with his strike zone.
SUMMARY: A five-year starter at Georgia Tech, Thomas played the “Money” linebacker position in defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker’s 4-2-5 base scheme. A high school defensive back, he made the transition to linebacker for the Yellow Jackets and was consistently productive, including a career-year in 2022 with 112 tackles. With his versatile athleticism, Thomas lined up everywhere on tape and showed outstanding short-area burst and acceleration in the open field (confirmed by his 1.55 10-yard split and 4.55 40-yard dash at the Combine). He is a magnet to the football when kept clean but can be too easily knocked off his path and needs to be more controlled as a finisher. Overall, Thomas will have a tough time overcoming his lack of strength, but he is fast-flowing in pursuit, and his play range expands his usefulness. He is a potential special-teamer with development potential as a nickel backer.
GRADE: Priority Free Agent
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Phelps has a chance of making the roster for sure!
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Thanks for the posts!
Yes!
According to London....we did pretty well.
but he has an NFL-quality arm with the toughness and ability to create that will appeal to pro teams.
...and our guys were one of those teams. They see him as a fit for us. If he eventually turns out to be the backup to Watson that they've been dreaming of, then the 5th round is a good place to get him.
Yes!
According to London....we did pretty well.
...and our guys were one of those teams. They see him as a fit for us. If he eventually turns out to be the backup to Watson that they've been dreaming of, then the 5th round is a good place to get him.
Yep. Let's face it, even our 1st pick is in a position where things start to get murky, and the odds decrease the guy will become a good player.
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Phelps has a chance of making the roster for sure!
Phelps has a chance of making the roster for sure!
Awesome stuff London! Thanks! Glad to see you back in here!!!
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I remember when Glen Logan had a couple articles on him and how he might be the "sneaky pick" to make the roster as an UDFA.
Despite having the worst IDL in all of football, he barely made it to the pre-season dress rehearsal.
"Chance" is a strong word and needs to be taken with a serious grain of salt. Still, I'm looking forward to watching Phelps' reps with Kansas.
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Jack Duffin@JackDuffin#Browns current cap space $7,100,339
Roster Count 90/90
Predicted 53 - 247sports.com/nfl/cleveland-…
Rookie class will cost $818,681 of cap space when signed
June 2 they gain
JJ3 +$9.75m
Clowney +$1.165m
How Browns continue spending more than everyone else 247sports.com/nfl/cleveland-…
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Buddy of mine is a Ga Tech fan…not many out there…big football guy and he absolutely loved Charlie Thomas believes he makes our roster.
So I watched some clips today. Very undersized S/LB…but pretty good playmaker for an undrafted guy…we will see.
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FWIW: draft value compared to PFN's 'consensus big board.' We didn't win the draft, but came in third, which is more impressive when you consider that we didn't have a first or second rounder.
Apparently the state of Pennsylvania is good at drafting. Either that, or that consensus big board was a big stinking turd.
Jack Lichtenstein@jacklich10The Eagles, Steelers, and Browns knocked the draft out of the park according to the consensus big board!
Patriots and Lions... not so much
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Tillman
Tillman was among the few top prospects with prototypical X measurables. He has good size, he is physical and he attacks the football in the air. With the additions of Tillman and the trade for Elijah Moore, Deshaun Watson will have more options in the passing game entering his second season with the team.
Ika
The Browns have made it a priority to improve the interior of their defensive line this offseason, and they continue that with the addition of Ika here. A mountain of a man at 358 pounds, he isn’t just a run defender, registering a 76.4 PFF pass-rushing grade in 2022.
Jones
There were questions about Jones’ conditioning/commitment that likely contributed to his slide down boards, but there’s a lot of reason to bet on Jones’ talent at this stage of the draft. His size and length afford him room for error, and he has enough movement ability at his size to have success as a starter. Jones earned 80-plus PFF grades as the Buckeyes’ starting right tackle in each of the last two seasons.
McGuire
Cleveland adds a good power rusher to complement Myles Garrett. He has NFL size and power with the potential to be a plus run defender. Despite average burst off the edge, he put up an 84.5 true pass-rush grade in 2022.
DTR
Thompson-Robinson is the definition of a “gamer,” a classic football cliche, with the desire to make something out of nothing on seemingly every snap. This can work against him, of course, with a lot of turnover-worthy plays as a result. However, his 77.4% adjusted completion percentage ranked 15th in college football and he offers great rushing ability.
Mitchell
Cleveland adds another Northwestern cornerback on top of 2021 first-rounder Greg Newsome II. Mitchell did well to match wide receivers stride for stride in trail technique in college, and he’s a willing tackler with a 76.0 run-defense grade.
Wypler
Wypler was the 54th-ranked player on the PFF big board, making this one of the better value selections in the draft in our eyes. He earned 79.0-plus PFF grades in each of his seasons as a starter for the Buckeyes, excelling as a zone run blocker (89th percentile over the last two seasons) specifically. Pair that with plus athleticism, and this looks like a steal for Cleveland. -
Do the selections of the Ohio State OLinemen look like a strange pairing?
One is an enormous road grader, the other an athletic center who excels in a zone blocking scheme.
I know they played on the same OLine in college, but they seem like two completely different scheme guys.
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Good write up by one of my favorite draft analysts Dane Brugler (also a fellow Mount Union Alum).
I was extremely happy when the Browns drafted Wypler….talk about a steal!
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FWIW: draft value compared to PFN's 'consensus big board.' We didn't win the draft, but came in third, which is more impressive when you consider that we didn't have a first or second rounder.
Apparently the state of Pennsylvania is good at drafting. Either that, or that consensus big board was a big stinking turd.
Jack Lichtenstein@jacklich10The Eagles, Steelers, and Browns knocked the draft out of the park according to the consensus big board!
Patriots and Lions... not so muchApparently the state of Pennsylvania is good at drafting.
Yeah, many say the damned Steelers had a good draft.
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Apparently the state of Pennsylvania is good at drafting.
Yeah, many say the damned Steelers had a good draft.
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Its uncanny how everything just falls into their laps to them and the Ravens every draft and all Cleveland can do is this!....
You are wrong!! We are a multi-skilled team in the FO!! ?
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What are we gonna do to help our weak LB corps?
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What are we gonna do to help our weak LB corps?
Find weaker safeties to make them look better in comparison.??
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Find weaker safeties to make them look better in comparison.??
Well played!!!
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What are we gonna do to help our weak LB corps?
Berry was a guest on ESPN Cleveland’s radio show yesterday and stated the Browns still have some moves in the works:
ESPN Cleveland@ESPNClevelandAndrew Berry said the Browns could still be looking for veteran help via free agency or trade 👀👀👀“There may be some other things that we’re looking to do, either on the veteran market or trade market over the next several weeks.”
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