Julius Thomas believes he still has room to grow

[Denver Native (Carol)]

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- He is a 6-foot-5, 250-pound testament to patience, a matchup crushing tight end who shows a question mark can be forced into an exclamation point with a little good fortune and plenty of work.

Because for two football seasons Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas' career stat line was this: One catch. Five yards.

It's been a long journey for the player who injured his ankle on his first career catch to the player who currently leads the NFL in touchdown receptions after nabbing nine in five games.

rest - http://espn.go.com/blog/denver-broncos/post/_/id/9329/julius-thomas-believes-he-still-has-room-to-grow

[Traveler]

rest - http://espn.go.com/blog/denver-broncos/post/_/id/9329/julius-thomas-believes-he-still-has-room-to-grow

His focus this offseason should be to improve his blocking. Not sure what he can do or where he can go, but he needs to do something to get better at blocking.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

His focus this offseason should be to improve his blocking. Not sure what he can do or where he can go, but he needs to do something to get better at blocking.

A short conversation with Shannon Sharpe would be a good start. :D

[Ziggy]

If JT learned how to block, he would be the best TE in the league. It's funny that Shannon is criticizing him the most, because he is a young Shannon Sharpe. The difference between the two is that Shannon was told early on in his career that if he didn't start blocking, he wasn't going to see the field. He was held accountable for his blocking. Great job by both the coaching staff and him. Now he's in the Hall of Fame.

[tomjonesrocks]

Meh.

Obviously he's had to put many hours working on routes and timing as that's his primary role. Maybe all that effort has made it hard to work on being a strong blocker.

This reminds me of everyone raving about the blocking skills of RBs. Hooray. Who gives a shit about blocking if they suck at running the ball?

[Ravage!!!]

I think the blocking will improve. Right now, he needs to keep on page with Peyton as he is a MAJOR cog in this offense. Shannon can criticize all he wants, but he wasn't a very good blocker early in his career, and made the HoF due to his PASS catching, not his blocking. The NFL is much more a passing league then in Shannon's day.

[Ravage!!!]

Meh.

Obviously he's had to put many hours working on routes and timing as that's his primary role. Maybe all that effort has made it hard to work on being a strong blocker.

This reminds me of everyone raving about the blocking skills of RBs. Hooray. Who gives a shit about blocking if they suck at running the ball?

The QB that is relying on that RB to pick up the extra rusher.

[Joel]

If JT learned how to block, he would be the best TE in the league. It's funny that Shannon is criticizing him the most, because he is a young Shannon Sharpe. The difference between the two is that Shannon was told early on in his career that if he didn't start blocking, he wasn't going to see the field. He was held accountable for his blocking. Great job by both the coaching staff and him. Now he's in the Hall of Fame.
That's one of the ways good coaching converts great teams into championship teams. Yes, Julius, you've got LOTS of room to grow: You're an electric game-changing receiver, but you've been a TE since your college coach refused your request to play WR, and most of our ACTUAL WRs block better than you.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

Julius did not play football until his senior year in college. Up until that time, it was all basketball. I am wondering if that has any thing to do with him not blocking very well so far.

[HORSEPOWER 56]

Julius did not play football until his senior year in college. Up until that time, it was all basketball. I am wondering if that has any thing to do with him not blocking very well so far.

Probably. Combine it with what others said about working on pass catching and timing with Manning and it probably has stunted his blocking a little.

I also think that maybe the lack of contact in the offseason programs, at TC, and practice probably don't help. It's a big difference hitting a sled or an assistant coach holding a bag and hitting an actual player trying to get by you. Just a thought. He's also only in his second full year as a starter. He has time to improve.

[Ravage!!!]

Julius did not play football until his senior year in college. Up until that time, it was all basketball. I am wondering if that has any thing to do with him not blocking very well so far.

Absolutely it does. I mean, think about MOST of your big blockers have been doing it since elementary school. even if its light blocking, they get used the the small things on contact and keeping contact. That's easily 4 years of playing before jr high (if not more)...then 6 more years before you get to college, and at college many players are in for at least 4 (counting that most red-shirt and if they are good may come out early)... so that could be 5 more years. Julius has missed out on nearly 14-15 years of early development football BEFORE getting into the NFL.

So basically, he's trying to learn to play TWO positions (a receiver and blocker) at the NFL level while in the NFL. Its not like he came into the NFL knowing how to run good routes, he relied on his speed for his size. Now things are getting to the point that he has to be a better route runner (and he has)....but blocking has taken a back seat in practices because working with Manning and that offense takes a LOT of time.

[BroncoWave]

He's on pace to shatter the NFL single season receiving TD record, not just for tight ends, but for all players. I'm going to give him a pass on the blocking for now. It will come with time.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Julius did not play football until his senior year in college. Up until that time, it was all basketball. I am wondering if that has any thing to do with him not blocking very well so far.

I'm not sure if that's accurate. I think he played all through school until his junior year of high school when someone talked him out of continuing with football. He then played two years of college football. I think in all, he missed 4 years of development.

However, I agree with Shannon Sharp's assessment.

[Cugel]

Meh.

Obviously he's had to put many hours working on routes and timing as that's his primary role. Maybe all that effort has made it hard to work on being a strong blocker.

This reminds me of everyone raving about the blocking skills of RBs. Hooray. Who gives a shit about blocking if they suck at running the ball?

A LOT of people will care about it if as a result of the TE or RB missing a block Peyton Manning gets crushed by a blitzing lineman!

I don't care if the RBs can run, the question is: can they keep Peyton's head on his shoulders! Because if he gets hurt, goodbye Broncos season, maybe goodbye to their chances of winning the SB this decade. Slightly more important than picking up that first down. :coffee:

I would like to see more empty backfield sets with an extra OT in for pass-protection. Let them rush 3 and drop 8 in coverage and see how long they can cover all the Broncos receivers!

Teams are always talking about lining up and saying "we're going to run the ball right at you and dare you to do anything about it!" What about lining up with an extra OL blocker and saying "we're going to pass the ball and let's see if you can do anything about it."

[Ravage!!!]

I agree he needs to improve, but many were saying the same things about Shannon at this point of his career. I prefer that JT is the mess to handle with offensively as a receiver over him being a good blocker.

[BroncoWave]

I agree he needs to improve, but many were saying the same things about Shannon at this point of his career. I prefer that JT is the mess to handle with offensively as a receiver over him being a good blocker.

Shanon also played on a team that won more by running the ball than passing, so I can see how it was more important for him to learn to block. While still important, it's not quite as vital for JT since we are such a passing team.

[Ravage!!!]

Shanon also played on a team that won more by running the ball than passing, so I can see how it was more important for him to learn to block. While still important, it's not quite as vital for JT since we are such a passing team.

and its a passing league that benefits passing over running. Shannon is in the HoF because of his pass catching abilities, not his blocking.

Shannon is right in that JT needs to improve on this, but if I have to pick between the two..... keep JT doing what he's doing.

[tripp]

Like Shannon Sharpe said "he couldn't block the sun out of his eyes". Peyton said yesterday JT worked on his route running in the off-season, what he should of been working on was his blocking. Tons of room for improvement if you're a TE who can't block.

[tomjonesrocks]

Peyton said yesterday JT worked on his route running in the off-season, what he should of been working on was his blocking.

Just completely disagree with this statement. Especially losing a red zone option in Decker.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

I'm not sure if that's accurate. I think he played all through school until his junior year of high school when someone talked him out of continuing with football. He then played two years of college football. I think in all, he missed 4 years of development.

However, I agree with Shannon Sharp's assessment.

somewhat true - According to the following article, it appears he played football in his freshman year in high school, and the rest of high school was basketball.

http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_26517409/julius-thomas-parents-played-vital-role-his-rise

as far as college football


Played just one season of college football after starring basketball for Portland State University and earned first-team All-Big Sky Conference by finishing third on the Vikings with 29 receptions for 453 yards (15.6 avg.) with two touchdowns as a senior.

http://www.denverbroncos.com/team/roster/Julius-Thomas/bfb583ff-6dbe-4ea3-8bd2-b6d9d36615ac

So, when football really gets serious - high school and college, he played two years only

[tripp]

Just completely disagree with this statement. Especially losing a red zone option in Decker.

JT wasn't already a threat in the red zone last year?

[Joel]

JT wasn't already a threat in the red zone last year?
He's more threateninger now. Because defenses AUTOMATICALLY KNOWING IT'S A PASS the moment he trots onto the field gives us some kind of abstract pscyhological advantage. :tongue:

[tripp]

He's more threateninger now. Because defenses AUTOMATICALLY KNOWING IT'S A PASS the moment he trots onto the field gives us some kind of abstract pscyhological advantage. :tongue:

hahah that's also why I don't get why you would focus more on improving your route running. Why not improve your blocking so defences have to guess whether you're in on a play to block or run a route. Improving on route running when you are already a good enough pass catching TE seems a little pointless when there is a glaring issue with his blocking.

[Joel]

hahah that's also why I don't get why you would focus more on improving your route running. Why not improve your blocking so defences have to guess whether you're in on a play to block or run a route. Improving on route running when you are already a good enough pass catching TE seems a little pointless when there is a glaring issue with his blocking.
Preaching to the choir on that one. It's funny, the same people want to pull Lombardis "this play's so good and we run it so well you can't stop it even if we TELL you it's coming" then accuse me of living in the past. The first step to beating a defense is keeping them guessing; right now we're far too one-dimensional to do that. Orange Julius is just one symptom of an underlying championsip-threatening disease.

Just remember: We don't NEED anyone to run block because we're SO GOOD at passing; anyway, the two duties are so radically different it's physically impossible for any linemen to run AND pass block well (even though Ryan Clady's always done both well,) just like no good receivers can block (even though Dreesen and DT are great outside blockers) and no good blockers can catch (even though Dreesen's always been a good receiver, too, and Green's had a couple nice tricky catches this year.)

An orange-colored mindset says the best offense ever doesn't NEED many different talents; in reality, it couldn't BE the best offense ever if our players DIDN'T many talents in many areas. The problem, IMHO, is we don't have the offensive coaching to hone that wealth of talent into a wealth of complementary skill so we can use a variety of play calls to exploit it and opponents. Manning can only accomplish so much yelling at JT, Franklin, Clark etc. after every down; at some point, a coach must work with a consistently underperforming player to get him up to speed, or bench/cut those who can't/won't get there.

[Slick]

I thought Sharpe's comment about blocking was in reference to Franklyn. I forget the post that was quoted. Maybe it was a typo.

[Joel]

I thought Sharpe's comment about blocking was in reference to Franklyn. I forget the post that was quoted. Maybe it was a typo.
It's at ~7:30, and he's definitely talking about Julius Thomas. At length, and none of it good; the worst part was probably the extended claim "he doesn't even TRY to block" and doesn't WANT to do it. http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/3/f/c/3fc6876d8106cadf/20140925ShannonSharpe.mp3?c_id=7661611&expiration=1413495669&hwt=719691c3e96f130ffd6c1d8ef08c5ca7 The highlight may have been this longer more specific part:

When Mike Shananan came, our first game in Denver in 1995 under Mike Shanahan, opening day against Buffalo, I catch 10 balls for 180 yards. At the time it was about the 3rd of 4th best NFL opening game in history, regardless of tight end or wide receiver. The next day Mike called me in his office. I'm thinking Mike's gonna congratulate me, talk about what a great game I played. He turned the tape on. The tape ran for like 10 minutes. [all missed blocks by Sharpe]. He sees the look on my face and he cuts the tape off. He says, "Shannon, I won't accept anything in a win that I wouldn't in a loss." What he was telling me, that what I displayed, even though we won the game, and I had 180 yards, would have been unacceptable if we had lost that game.

So I won't accept nothing in a win that I wouldn't in a loss.
Sharpe also made a good tit-for-tat point: A TE can't expect RBs to pick up blitzers on pass plays so the TE can make catches, then turn around and leave the RB hanging on running plays.

[Ravage!!!]

hahah that's also why I don't get why you would focus more on improving your route running. Why not improve your blocking so defences have to guess whether you're in on a play to block or run a route. Improving on route running when you are already a good enough pass catching TE seems a little pointless when there is a glaring issue with his blocking.

This is wrong, though. Relying on your speed and ability (athletically) will only get you so far, for so long. Being a good route runner vs a VERY good route runner can be the difference in MANY situations. It opens the door to much more. THis "good enough of a route runner" thing, just doesn't make sense.

[Joel]

This is wrong, though. Relying on your speed and ability (athletically) will only get you so far, for so long. Being a good route runner vs a VERY good route runner can be the difference in MANY situations. It opens the door to much more. THis "good enough of a route runner" thing, just doesn't make sense.
It makes far more sense than "NOT good enough blocker." We've GOT two Pro Bowl WRs, and I bet we have another by seasons end: What we NEED is a TIGHT END so we're not incapable of anything BUT passing. And as for red zone threats, all that only becomes more relevant as the field shortens. Again, he asked his college coach for a WR spot but was told to play TE; if that was an error, we can line him as a #4 WR (which we practically do already) but STILL need a starting TE. Running out of a shotgun 4-wide may catch the D off balance, but it BETTER, because it's very unsuited to running.

[Simple Jaded]

Come on, it's not unreasonable to expect better blocking from Thomas, but he's getting worse, he's getting his ass handed to him. He should be embarrassed. Sharpe was a 6-2/230 former WR, Thomas is 6-5/250.

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

Come on, it's not unreasonable to expect better blocking from Thomas, but he's getting worse, he's getting his ass handed to him. He should be embarrassed. Sharpe was a 6-2/230 former WR, Thomas is 6-5/250.

Agreed, there's excuses plenty for lack technique. There's no excuse for lack of effort.

[nevcraw]

Sharpe was never a good blocker. not-ever. he became adequate/below average. he is one of my favorites of all time but if he sees it different in in the rear view mirror he is mistaken.
as long as Julius improves some and is still the TD/ receiving threat he is today - i'm all good with that.

[Joel]

Sharpe was never a good blocker. not-ever. he became adequate/below average. he is one of my favorites of all time but if he sees it different in in the rear view mirror he is mistaken.
as long as Julius improves some and is still the TD/ receiving threat he is today - i'm all good with that.
Sharpes point is the one AW4M just reiterated: It's one thing if he sucks, and fans or even coaches may not care—but if HE doesn't care, that's a problem even bigger than his non-blocking.

[Bronco9798]

He'll be fine. Keep scoring those easy TD's in the Red Zone.

[Simple Jaded]

Agreed, there's excuses plenty for lack technique. There's no excuse for lack of effort.

There was a play vs Cardinals where he ended up on his face. . .his face! He's getting worse.

[TXBRONC]

Come on, it's not unreasonable to expect better blocking from Thomas, but he's getting worse, he's getting his ass handed to him. He should be embarrassed. Sharpe was a 6-2/230 former WR, Thomas is 6-5/250.

Before Shanahan got to Denver Sharpe couldn't block to save his life.

[TXBRONC]

Sharpe was never a good blocker. not-ever. he became adequate/below average. he is one of my favorites of all time but if he sees it different in in the rear view mirror he is mistaken.
as long as Julius improves some and is still the TD/ receiving threat he is today - i'm all good with that.

Yep and that took several years before he became an adequate blocker.

[MOtorboat]

Meh.

[Simple Jaded]

Before Shanahan got to Denver Sharpe couldn't block to save his life.

And under Shanatan Sharpe was told that he was expected to block, I'm quite positive JT is expected to block too. I'm beginning to think JT just doesn't have it in him, he's had plenty of time to be far better than he is.

Say what you want about Sharpe but he blocked for one of the best RB's ever, think about how many of those 2008 yards never happen if Thomas is blocking for TD.

[Bronco9798]

It's a non issue. He scores TD's. He's a red zone beast!!

[LTC Pain]

Just saw this on Twitter from Adam Schefter. My response is Muhahahahahaha, no thanks!

Adam Schefter ‏@AdamSchefter · 17m17 minutes ago
Seattle proposed sending Percy Harvin to Denver, sources say, in exchange for Pro Bowl TE Julius Thomas. Broncos never pondered it. No.

[tripp]

This is wrong, though. Relying on your speed and ability (athletically) will only get you so far, for so long. Being a good route runner vs a VERY good route runner can be the difference in MANY situations. It opens the door to much more. THis "good enough of a route runner" thing, just doesn't make sense.

My point is he should be worrying about blocking, seeing as how blocking is a major role for a TE, it's not all about catching passes.

[Northman]

It's a non issue. He scores TD's. He's a red zone beast!!

Would have to agree. Even when Sharpe learned how to block it was never his greatest strength. The reason why Sharpe had so much success was because he was a matchup nightmare. I think JT is going to be in the same vein so if he can improve his blocking than great. But JT's strength will always be with scoring and mis-matches. You dont trade away a player like that.

[MOtorboat]

Would have to agree. Even when Sharpe learned how to block it was never his greatest strength. The reason why Sharpe had so much success was because he was a matchup nightmare. I think JT is going to be in the same vein so if he can improve his blocking than great. But JT's strength will always be with scoring and mis-matches. You dont trade away a player like that.

Sharpe was Tim Wright before Tim Wright was Tim Wright.

:WTE:

[Al Wilson 4 Mayor]

I've been one of his biggest critics on this board, so it's only fitting I give credit where credit is due. JT has done a good job blocking so far in this game.

[Bronco9798]

Another game, another non-issue.