Joe Thomas has seen a flood of first-round picks come and go in Cleveland.
Many have washed away ingloriously, but the Pro Bowl left tackle for the Browns sees genuine hope in rookie pass rusher Myles Garrett.
"I'm just impressed with his demeanor and his willingness to learn and his humbleness," Thomas said of the No. 1 overall pick, per The Plain Dealer, "but also you see that fire that's burning inside him to be great and I think those are the hallmarks of guys that have a chance to be really excellent football players."
Count Thomas among those who were relieved to see the Browns use the first-overall pick on a rare specimen at one of football's most important positions instead of reaching for a lukewarm quarterback.
"It's an impactful player at a position of need," Thomas said, "and I think sometimes people reach for a quarterback at No. 1 and then it takes a long time to develop him and if they don't have the right system and the right people in place around them, sometimes it's hard for them to have that success."
Thomas could author a Russian novel on the topic of swinging and missing on first-round quarterbacks -- he's seen a dismal flood of them in Cleveland -- but that won't be a talking point this season.
If there was any debate who the Browns might take at No. 1, the team today is all in on Garrett, with owner Dee Haslam saying: "He is amazing. He's a pretty awesome specimen of an athlete."
As for Thomas, he'll be one of the first NFL players to line up and challenge Garrett play after play in training camp. Good luck finding a better teacher.
"He's shown an interest in learning and I'm a player that really likes to try to help teach and impart any wisdom that I've gotten over the ages on some of those young guys," Thomas said, "so it will be fun for me, too, to be able to try to help as best as I can and try to get him to think like an offensive tackle and hopefully turn him into the great player I think he can be."
