Former Eagles passer Ron Jaworski is no stranger to from-the-wilderness thinking on NFL quarterbacks.
We learned this last summer when the ESPN analyst announced that Colin Kaepernick"could be one of the greatest quarterbacks ever," right after telling the world that Brandon Weeden"will be a rock-solid NFL starter in Norv Turner's offense."
Give Jaws this much: He watches as much game film as anyone, making his latest comments on Cardinals rookie passer Logan Thomas something of a fascination.
"When I plugged the tape in yesterday morning and I saw Logan Thomas, I was shocked. He was fantastic in this game (against the Texans). He's big, strong and he can rip throws," Jaworski said Wednesday on ESPN. "... Of all the rookie quarterbacks that I've watched so far -- yes, early in the preseason -- Logan Thomas has been the best that I have seen."
Jaws acknowledged that his pre-draft take on Thomas was that he "couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat," but after seeing the rookie pick apart Houston, Jaworski told the world: "You plug this tape in, this guy projects to me as an All-Pro."
Facing an overwhelmed gaggle of Texans reserves, the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Thomas went 11-of-12 for 113 yards and a touchdown pass in his NFL debut. It started ugly, with Thomas recovering his own fumble and absorbing two sacks on his first drive before settling down to wow the crowd with his escape-artist act on a 12-yard touchdown strike to wideout Dan Buckner.
Around The League's Kevin Patra correctly noted that the rookie's acrobatics would "undoubtedly be compared to a Ben Roethlisberger play."
Bruce Arians pointed to the Texans tilt as the best Thomas has thrown this summer, but Arizona's coach made it clear that Drew Stanton's No. 2 job is secure behind Carson Palmer. Still, Arians believes the rookie is a more accurate passer than what Thomas showed during his uneven run as a starter at Virginia Tech.
"He's got 25 or 30 (game) tapes out there. Twenty-three of them are bad," NFL Media draft analyst Mike Mayock said of Thomas coming out of the draft. NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah was told by a flurry of teams that Thomas projected as a tight end -- not quarterback.
Time will tell if Thomas winds up as a diamond in the rough, but one aspect of his development is promising: The rookie couldn't have landed with a better coach than Arians.
Along with Chicago's Marc Trestman and San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh, Arians is rightly regarded as one of the game's top passing tutors, helping to turn Big Ben and Andrew Luck into household names out of the gate.
Don't look for it in Year 1, but ultimately doing the same with Thomas would serve as the headiest coup d'etat yet for Arizona's celebrated quarterback-whisperer.
The latest Around The League Podcast highlights the winners and losers from the first week of preseason action.
