Did a little research on Thigpen last night and here’s some interesting quotes I found. One thing stands out – Thigpen is one fast dude and is dangerous in the open field. I’m a little surprised that no one seems to bring up the possibility of Thigpen playing wide receiver. His height would be an issue, but there have been a lot of small but super fast wide receivers make it not just at the college level but even the NFL level recently. Notre Dame’s had success with guys like Joey Getherall in the past as well.
From ESPN’s scouting report:
Has great leaping ability and competitiveness to minimize his height disadvantage on jump balls. He’s extremely dangerous in space with the ball. Has great elusiveness, an extra gear and blinding top-end speed. He’s a slippery, fast-twitch athlete who appears natural picking and sliding through traffic. As a running back, shows great body control and a low center of gravity before bursting through the seam. He’s a potential matchup nightmare in the slot for a linebacker forced to jam and cover him. Thigpen’s great return skills may be his best attribute, and he’s a future weapon regardless of his eventual destination (position and program).
Apparently Thigpen was on the initial Scout’s Top 100 for this year and here’s a bit from an article from October 2007 talking about Thigpen during the early stages of his junior season.
As a sophomore, he carried 60 times for 600 yards and seven touchdowns and also added a kickoff return for touchdown. He made 40 tackles on defense.
As a freshman, he carried 19 times for 210 yards and two touchdowns, also adding 30 tackles on defense.
He runs a 4.34 40-yard dash, 4.08 short shuttle and boasts a 10-foot broad jump. Thigpen is also a track standout ranked nationally in the 55-meter with a time of 6.41 seconds As a sophomore he won the Virginia AAA State Outdoor Championship in the 300-meter hurdles and his time of 37.42 was the fastest time recorded that year in Virginia.
Thigpen’s coach on his speed from a pre-season article in the Washington Post.
“Watching him run,” said first-year Stonewall coach Mike Dougherty, “is something to see. When he plants his foot and accelerates into a cut, it’s like everybody else is going in slow motion. He’s got the kind of speed that people who play on Sunday have.”
But this year, it’s Thigpen’s ability to cover ground on the football field that led Dougherty to move him from cornerback to free safety. There, the Raiders envision him being equally effective breaking up passes and covering the run from sideline to sideline.
I never knew a 4.34 40 time didn’t qualify one to have speed?? Obviously he’s quick, but to imply that he doesn’t have speed is….?
I’m struck by the discussion of speed. His coach calls speed what I call quickness. The two are related but different. Most guys with quickness have enough speed. Many guys with speed aren’t the quickest. Receivers making QUICK cuts, running backs making QUICK cuts. Linebackers making QUICK reactinos to the ball, those are the difference makers. Flat out track speed only works on a fly pattern or a wide open running lane. Quickness keeps the opponent off balance.
Matt,
Schools backed off because Thigpen was very committed to Tennessee. He was one of their first verbals back in April and he never wavered during the coaching change. Red my earlier post on Thigpen, theres a quote from a Knoxville paper in there about how committed Thigpen was to Tenn.
Makes you wonder if he had some kind of injury his senior season. Other than that I can’t see why more schools are laying off on Thigpen.