Finding NFL comparisons for Chicago Bears CB Thomas Graham
Looking into the size and athleticism of a player can you give a pretty good idea of the type of player, or role that they may fill in the NFL. We have been looking into the Chicago Bears rookies to find those comparisons for their offensive players. How about Thomas Graham on the defensive side of the ball?
If you see his athletic testing chart below, he is not an above-average athlete. That is likely part of what pushed him down the draft. So, with this size, and athleticism are there similar players to find NFL success?
We used the combine tracker from football reference to find similar players. Players we found had to have the following to fit into a similar tier to Graham.
5’9”-5’11”
185-199 pounds
4.4-4.48s
32-37”
10-19 bench
117-112”
From there, we are able to see that while the list is not deep with talent, there are players that match. It is interesting to note that while draft capital is valuable and gets players a chance at the field quicker, a lot of the successful players with this size did fall in the draft with the same questions.
Looking at players with similar metrics and day three draft capital the following players’ show
Darnay Holmes, Walter Thurmond, Nevin Lawson, Sherrick McManis, EJ Gaines, Andre Hal, Kurt Coleman, JC Jackson
One thing that stands out is that almost none of these players stuck on the outside due to their size. Gaines and Jackson play there, but Jackson moves into the slot as well. The other thing that stands out is versatility. Almost all of these players move from the slot to safety to corner and all around. They also all made it on special teams. Graham was not very versatile in college, so there will be a learning gap if he wants to be successful.
Next. 5 stats to know about Thomas Graham. dark
Of course, the name that stands out to Bears fans is McManis. McManis had a long stay in Chicago due to special teams play, but once again this is an area where Graham is unproven. Still, the inside-outside versatility, special teams, and potential to even move to safety is what kept McManis on a roster. Graham will likely need to go down a similar path.