Jake Thomas Discussion

[Blue In BC]

Ok, you list 1 theoretical attribute.  Speed.

1) Is that it?  The Fatboi detractors list so many bad things about him now.  And you list just one that existed since his first few seasons?

2) You find me one person who said he was "fast" (the opposite of "slow") in his first few seasons.  Or is it more likely he's never been fast?

My homework assignment was to find a negative attribute he has now that he didn't have before.  Not attributes he's always had.

In other words, find me some plaudit he got in the past for which he now gets bashed.  I'll wait...

I've said he was slower, non athletic and seldom makes and impact. He isn't making tackles or getting sacks. Watch the last game. The best thing I might say is that he MIGHT have forced their RB's inside and helped prevent them from going outside.  If he was slow to start his career and is slower now, that's not a good thing. I'd also say he's like any older player, not as quick or strong against younger players.

I seriously doubt that is done by design by a large DT against a faster RB.

It's been suggested he's getting 90% of the reps as Lawson is eased back into game form and shape. Lawson has 3 DT and Thomas has ZERO this year.

Not sure what you need to see or hear. Are we watching the same game? Like I said re-watch the last game or any game this year. I'll wait.

Feel free to create any form of highlight film.

[Blueforlife]

I've said he was slower, non athletic and seldom makes and impact. He isn't making tackles or getting sacks. Watch the last game. The best thing I might say is that he MIGHT have forced their RB's inside and helped prevent them from going outside.  If he was slow to start his career and is slower now, that's not a good thing. I'd also say he's like any older player, not as quick or strong against younger players.

I seriously doubt that is done by design by a large DT against a faster RB.

It's been suggested he's getting 90% of the reps as Lawson is eased back into game form and shape. Lawson has 3 DT and Thomas has ZERO this year.

Not sure what you need to see or hear. Are we watching the same game? Like I said re-watch the last game or any game this year. I'll wait.

Feel free to create any form of highlight film.

You are wrong that he seldom makes an impact.  He has impacted many games for many years with sacks and fumble recoveries.  He biggest impact is his consistency in using his strength and size to push the OL back and open holes for the faster and or more skilled players.  I believe he will make an impact this year as well.  His stats won't be impressive but he will continue to get it done while allowing Lawson to develop and recover on his terms.

Techno already previously detailed a couple situations where Thomas was making an impact.  I am with Techno here.  Thomas isn't a highlight machine though, he is a rock of consistency.  I think he will record some stats this year but he isn't a highlight machine.

Non athletic is overstating the negative on his physical abilities.  Yes he isn't the fastest but for a big man at his age he has an impressive ability to remain powerful enough to take on two OL at times.  Athletic enough to play pro ball for what a decade?

With the number of reps he is getting, it proves that the Bomber brass continue to trust him to get it done.  Our defense has been very good and Thomas has contributed to that through doing his assignments well and being consistent.  We got play makers on this team that Thomas helps enable.  Thomas is a glue guy that is part of our defensive puzzle.  Not a corner piece but one somewhere in the middle, maybe the leaf piece on the cdn flag lol.

[Blue In BC]

You are wrong that he seldom makes an impact.  He has impacted many games for many years with sacks and fumble recoveries.  He biggest impact is his consistency in using his strength and size to push the OL back and open holes for the faster and or more skilled players.  I believe he will make an impact this year as well.  His stats won't be impressive but he will continue to get it done while allowing Lawson to develop and recover on his terms.
Techno already previously detailed a couple situations where Thomas was making an impact.  I am with Techno here.  Thomas isn't a highlight machine though, he is a rock of consistency.  I think he will record some stats this year but he isn't a highlight machine.

Blah, blah, blah. What he did many years ago is just a load of crap. Consistency and not getting injured are nice but that and $5 gets you a cup of coffee. The point is what has he done for us lately. You just want to rest on past glories. I never said he never made an impact in his entire career.

Against the Elks, their DT's had a combined 5 DT's and stuffed our running game until the 4th Q. Adams was our only interior DT to make a DT and the Elks running game was pretty good throughout the game. So who was he opening holes for to make an impact? As I pointed out the Elks were stopping running plays at the LOS. The Bombers were making plays 4 - 6 yards beyond the LOS by their LB's and secondary. The Elks also won TOP and field position for most of the game as a result.

Ceresna ( an import ) has 194 DT's and 46 sacks in 94 games. Thomas has 157 DT's and 25 sacks in 208 games. While different teams have different strategies and may be on the field longer or less, it's just one example of player that makes an impact.

In Montreal

Uguak ( Canadian ) has 9 DT's this year
Oakman ( Import ) has 8 DT's this year

In Hamilton

Sayles ( import ) has played in 69 games and has 157 DT's and 25 sacks. That's about equal stat wise to Thomas in 208 games.
Fox  ( import ) has 5 DT's. In 3 games last year in Winnipeg he had 3.

Our DL overall improved from 2024 due Vaughters and Lawson but our interior DL is still not good or a strength.

You know where I think yuo can take your use of  " consistency ". That's just another word for average.  Average is for back ups.

In 2025 we have 7 Canadian starters, where do you rank him in that group?
In 2024 we had 8 - 10 Canadian starters. where would you have ranked him in that group?

[Blue In BC]

Copied from the other site. Yes I know he doesn't think much of Thomas either at this point in his career but he's just stating facts.


Speaking of Wheatfall..watch the first 2 defensive snaps by us after the kick off...watch the work of the dline and then look at the useless work of Thomas on snap 1...and Kornelson on snap 2...Thomas get no push..bullied...spun around...Kornelson meets his lineman..no push...gets pushed back.. and has no motor to get involved in play to try and assist in a sack....that's what we get with them...jackshit..and that's not just an isolated cherry pick...just a nice example of snap after snap for most part

[Jesse]

Copied from the other site. Yes I know he doesn't think much of Thomas either at this point in his career but he's just stating facts.


Speaking of Wheatfall..watch the first 2 defensive snaps by us after the kick off...watch the work of the dline and then look at the useless work of Thomas on snap 1...and Kornelson on snap 2...Thomas get no push..bullied...spun around...Kornelson meets his lineman..no push...gets pushed back.. and has no motor to get involved in play to try and assist in a sack....that's what we get with them...jackshit..and that's not just an isolated cherry pick...just a nice example of snap after snap for most part

No offence, if we want to read there, we will.

Form your own opinions and add them to the discussion.

[Blue In BC]

No offence, but you have to stop cutting/pasting from other site. If we want to read there, we will.

Form your own opinions and add them to the discussion.

Those are the same as my opinion and just used as an example about others feeling the same thing. I'm still waiting to hear the pro Thomas show some specific examples of making a play in recent history. I'm being as objective as I can but it seems there is a " blind faith " contingent on the pro support side.

I have copied similar comments and opinions from this site and CFL stats as well. Information is information. I've compared results between our players and those on other teams. That's a pretty standard metric in forming an opinion.

The Bombers gave up 72 yards rushing in the 1st half. That's not good. It's pretty easy to watch those plays and see our DT's were not that effective.

Some could argue that was part of our defensive strategy to hamper the passing game. Possible but we're talking about an ineffective passing QB. You'd think we could have done better against the run. This was while the outcome of the game was still in doubt. I've re-watched the game and still come away with the same feeling as watching it live.

[dd]

Copied from the other site. Yes I know he doesn't think much of Thomas either at this point in his career but he's just stating facts.


Speaking of Wheatfall..watch the first 2 defensive snaps by us after the kick off...watch the work of the dline and then look at the useless work of Thomas on snap 1...and Kornelson on snap 2...Thomas get no push..bullied...spun around...Kornelson meets his lineman..no push...gets pushed back.. and has no motor to get involved in play to try and assist in a sack....that's what we get with them...jackshit..and that's not just an isolated cherry pick...just a nice example of snap after snap for most part

Pretty much sums it up. Not hard to not get hurt when you don't do anything. Our interior DL is the weakness of our team, period. We can't be strong everywhere, but our weakest area is in between the DE's, and has been since Sayles left.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

Those are the same as my opinion and just used as an example about others feeling the same thing. I'm still waiting to hear the pro Thomas show some specific examples of making a play in recent history. I'm being as objective as I can but it seems there is a " blind faith " contingent on the pro support side.

I have copied similar comments and opinions from this site and CFL stats as well. Information is information. I've compared results between our players and those on other teams. That's a pretty standard metric in forming an opinion.

The Bombers gave up 72 yards rushing in the 1st half. That's not good. It's pretty easy to watch those plays and see our DT's were not that effective.

Some could argue that was part of our defensive strategy to hamper the passing game. Possible but we're talking about an ineffective passing QB. You'd think we could have done better against the run. This was while the outcome of the game was still in doubt. I've re-watched the game and still come away with the same feeling as watching it live.

Jeezus man, Jake is playing 80% of the snaps, do you think that's out of charity or because they have no other options at DT?  He's on the field for every critical play, 3rd down sneak, and goal line stand, because he understands his assignment and completes them, play after play after play.  He's graded on a game by game basis, so it's not like he can slip by unnoticed.  Do you believe Younger has no say in the personnel he deploys?

He's an old school DT, it's not about sacks and tackles, his job is to plug a gap and condense the pocket by pushing hard.  Similar to Cleyon Laing in Ottawa anoher Natl DT who has started for 12 seasons, not because he's spectacular pass rusher but because he strong and provides a consistent and reliable presence.

[Blue In BC]

Jeezus man, Jake is playing 80% of the snaps, do you think that's out of charity or because they have no other options at DT?  He's on the field for every critical play, 3rd down sneak, and goal line stand, because he understands his assignment and completes them, play after play after play.  He's graded on a game by game basis, so it's not like he can slip by unnoticed.  Do you believe Younger has no say in the personnel he deploys?

He's an old school DT, it's not about sacks and tackles, his job is to plug a gap and condense the pocket by pushing hard.  Similar to Cleyon Laing in Ottawa anoher Natl DT who has started for 12 seasons, not because he's spectacular pass rusher but because he strong and provides a consistent and reliable presence.

It's been mentioned repeatedly that the team may be working Lawson back into game speed slowly. He's coming off of missing an entire season with a serious issue. The only other choice is Kornelson who has very little experience. So yes we have few options. I mentioned Uguak and referenced his stats. IIRC he was a free agent this spring. I don't know if we tried to sign him or he had any interest in leaving Montreal. Also not sure what his SMS cost was, however we signed Mitchell for $160K and J. Jones for $124K.  Thomas probably close to $100K so how much delta between someone like Uguak?

We don't really know what the snap count is but that is a question I've asked.

Did we stop any 3rd and short on a running play? Did we stop a 3rd and goal? No we didn't, so hard to give the interior credit for those failures.

If his role is to fill a gap you better check out the last game and see how he didn't do that and watched as the RB ran past him. That's the point in a nutshell.

Old school? That's a laugh. Today is not old school CFL.  Comparing him to Laing? He played 48 games less, had 59 more DT's and twice as many sacks at 50.  Extrapolate that to an equivalent number of games. That's not a very good example on your part.  Those are just facts in the comparison you suggested.

 Choices come in free agency to fill the greatest area of weakness.

[dd]

If I am playing the BB, I am running right up the gut on us, away from the outside rush and into the soft interior, I'd have whomever is linedup on JT to chip him and go second level to the MLB and you could run all day and night on us. I am shocked teams keep to the conventional CFL passing game against us, as our secondary is our strength and our interior DL is our weakness. Wisdom says attack the weakness.

[Blue In BC]

If I am playing the BB, I am running right up the gut on us, away from the outside rush and into the soft interior, I'd have whomever is linedup on JT to chip him and go second level to the MLB and you could run all day and night on us. I am shocked teams keep to the conventional CFL passing game against us, as our secondary is our strength and our interior DL is our weakness. Wisdom says attack the weakness.

Stamps rushed for nearly 150 yards against the Redblacks. It will be a test to stop the run while trying to force Adams into errors.

[Blueforlife]

/quote]
Just because an opinion is posted elsewhere means nothing to me

Jeezus man, Jake is playing 80% of the snaps, do you think that's out of charity or because they have no other options at DT?  He's on the field for every critical play, 3rd down sneak, and goal line stand, because he understands his assignment and completes them, play after play after play.  He's graded on a game by game basis, so it's not like he can slip by unnoticed.  Do you believe Younger has no say in the personnel he deploys?

He's an old school DT, it's not about sacks and tackles, his job is to plug a gap and condense the pocket by pushing hard.  Similar to Cleyon Laing in Ottawa anoher Natl DT who has started for 12 seasons, not because he's spectacular pass rusher but because he strong and provides a consistent and reliable presence.

Well written, well said agree all, nice that now there are three amigos minimum on the Thomas train, props man props

If I am playing the BB, I am running right up the gut on us, away from the outside rush and into the soft interior, I'd have whomever is linedup on JT to chip him and go second level to the MLB and you could run all day and night on us. I am shocked teams keep to the conventional CFL passing game against us, as our secondary is our strength and our interior DL is our weakness. Wisdom says attack the weakness.

Nope, we are holding the other teams to under 100 yards a game and our run D has been strong
If our run D was weak it already would have been exposed

I hope they run on our middle our dl and deep rotational lbs will feast

Bring it

Pretty much sums it up. Not hard to not get hurt when you don't do anything. Our interior DL is the weakness of our team, period. We can't be strong everywhere, but our weakest area is in between the DE's, and has been since Sayles left.

Nah, he has contributed plenty, understating the significance of him staying healthy

Lots of tackles, sacks, ff and an int!
Jake Thomas - CFL.ca https://share.google/JHd0uVnExxG10kRFo

[dd]

Man the stats at the top of his web page hit you like a shovel in the face- Defensive Tackles - 0, Special Teams Tackles - 0, Interceptions- 0, Sacks - 0. Total impact- 0. End of discussion.

[Blueforlife]

Man the stats at the top of his web page hit you like a shovel in the face- Defensive Tackles - 0, Special Teams Tackles - 0, Interceptions- 0, Sacks - 0. Total impact- 0. End of discussion.

Nah he does a lot of things well for over a decade

His stats are consistent and will pick up

Will never jump off the page

Discussion won't end until he retires, lol, some of us been defending Thomas for YEARS

I'll take a bet his stats this year if healthy and he gets reps will be slightly lower than his career average but still decent

[TecnoGenius]

In 3 games in the 2025 season, Thomas has yet to record a tackle. None. Zippo. Zilch. Nuff said on this

In 3 games Willie has only recorded 1.33 tackles a game.  Near none.  Near zilch.  Nuff said on that?

Fire Willie?

Watch. The. Pressers.  It's all about pressure.  From my vantage point Fatboi has caused more pressure than Willie this season!  And, for those really watching, Fatboi's motor keeps running until the whistle.  Willie tries his 1-2 moves and then stops if they didn't work (until playoffs).