10 Questions: #10 – Will the real Logan Thomas please stand up?

Will the real Logan Thomas please stand up?

Logan Thomas has been a great quarterback for the Hokies at times.  At other times, he’s been not so great.

2011: 59.8%, 3013 yards, 19 TD, 10 INT, 135.5 rating
2012: 51.3%, 2976 yards, 18 TD, 16 INT, 115.94 rating

Logan Thomas

After looking like a first round pick in 2011, as a r-junior Logan Thomas put up numbers that quite frankly did not even approach mediocre status.  What were the reasons?  I’ve got a few theories…

1: Trust in the wide receivers.  Every throw to Corey Fuller was a thing of beauty, because Thomas knew he could trust Fuller to read the coverage correctly and run the right routes.  At times he held the ball too long because he couldn’t trust his other receivers to run the correct route.  That led the hesitation, which led to throwing off his back foot, which led to airmailing the pass, which led to interceptions.

2: No help from…any other position.  With the exception of Corey Fuller, the Tech offense wasn’t consistent last year.  There was no running game to rely on.  The offensive line didn’t block well. The running backs weren’t reliable.  The wideouts would make plays at times, and then drop passes or run the wrong route on others.

3: The focus of the defense.  In 2011, defenses focused on stopping first round pick David Wilson and the two leading receivers in VT history.  In 2012, with no other proven players on the field, defenses focused in on Logan Thomas .

4: Lack of confidence.  By the end of the season, with the way things had been going, it would have been easy for Logan Thomas to lose confidence.  In fact, it would have been human nature.  He probably lacked confidence in his teammates, his coaches, and himself at that point.  Or, maybe not.  It’s just a theory on my part.

There’s nothing Logan Thomas can do about #3 on that list.  You can guarantee that he will be the top focus of the Alabama defense on August 31, and until others prove themselves to be consistent offensive players, the rest of Tech’s opponents will focus on him as well.

There’s nothing Thomas can do about #2, either.  If the offensive line, running backs, wide receivers and tight ends don’t play well again this year, then Thomas is going to be a sitting duck.  His numbers will suffer horribly, and you can forget about that first round pick status.

I think Logan will have complete trust in D.J. Coles , a r-senior who proved to be a consistent receiver in 2011 before missing all of last season.  I believe that he has confidence in Demitri Knowles , who caught 16 passes as a r-freshman last season.  He has had some glowing remarks for Charley Meyer as well, and Joshua Stanford is impressive for a young player.

However, Coles has had an injury history, and the other players are young.  There is no guarantee that they will be better than last year’s group, though I’m sure they’ll be better blockers, and my guess is that they’ll do the little things better as well.  If that happens, the consistency of the passing game will improve.

With Scot Loeffler in the house, I think we’ll see a different Logan Thomas this year.  Not necessarily at the beginning of the season, but as he continues to grow in the system and he gets comfortable with his new wide receivers, I believe Thomas will be playing good football by the end of the season.  I’m not sure he’s quite as good as he showed in 2011, but he’s not as bad as he looked at times in 2012 either.

33 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. LT cam to Tech to play tight end. It is true he would need someone to throw the ball to him to be an all american. It never happened because a true QB was never recruited. Hence, he was moved to QB, not his natural position. I believe he was rated the number one athlete coming out of high school, not the number one QB. He took one for the team when he switched positions. Just ask youself, if LT were given all the tools and training he need to succeed at either position, which one would he be best at. The answer is without question, Tight End. Period. Have you seen the guy run with the ball? Have you seen him throw it? Perhaps I was a little premature in my All American predicition, perhaps not, we’ll never know. Also, I’m not saying Loeffler doesn’t know what he’s talking about, but he wasn’t here when LT arrrived either. PS We know LT is a great runner, we have yet to see him be a great passer/quarterback. OK dude, laugh that off.

  2. I think a lot of that will depend on the five guys in front of him. It’s kind of hard to stand up when you have two or three players laying on top of you. And if we don’t get a go to back and at least two dependable receivers I think we are looking at a repeat of last year.

  3. Logan can certainly be a Beast at times out there, and one loves to see a Giant-Ass QB, everybody digs it. He can punish people sometimes, it’s a kick. It’s gonna take a concerted effort to avail all of his Talent, it is definitely there. I sure hope that He has a magnificent Senior year, He certainly deserves it, a real “Class Act” his entire career. A fine Rep for Va. Tech. I hope things work out for him this Season, He can be so much fun to watch, that Miami game is still one for the ages! Go Logan, and as always Go Hokies!

  4. I agree with UVa Basher, MD and DR should have been benched. I think we’ll see a different LT this year (I pray). I think we’ll be OK on O.

  5. this is BS….. he had no one open last year. NO ONE. he set a single season total offense record. Yes, he throws high sometimes. So do I.

    1. He had many horrible throws even when the receivers were open on correct routes. Granted there really wasn’t any consistent offensive weapon, but that’s not to blame for his bad accuracy.

      1. ok but the point is he had no trust or faith in them to be open bc they rarely were wide open or running the correct routes….so he was basically hesitant to throw to them everytime they lined up….therefore if the wr was open, at that point its usually too late to throw it. The overall lack of trust in his receivers meant he couldn’t anticipate anything. So fact that he didn’t hit some of his open receivers is consistent with the point of # 1 and #2. If there was any consistency or trust throughout the season he would probably have no issues with hitting an open man.

      2. Chris’s comments ring true, but I agree there are accuracy problems that can’t be foisted off on the shortcomings of others. The balls at open receiver’s feet, in particular, come to mind.

  6. LT. I love the guy but the bottom line is he’s a tight end playing quarterback. If he played his natural position he would be all-american.

          1. Where did you hear that? From what I remember he specifically said he would not entertain any school that wanted him at QB…

    1. The expert knows a guy who never actually played TE would be an all American TE hahaha. If Loeffler thinks he’s an nfl QB, I’ll take his word for it.

      PS to be an all American pass catcher, you have to have someone throwing you the rock. Who would have done that last year? Leal ? Ok dude. All American. Right.

      1. While I agree that he’s actually at the best position at Tech (QB), I believe you are grossly underestimating Mark Leal. Leal came from a very advanced offense and he will flourish in 2014!

    2. yeah he’s really playing out of position lol. After last year’s bad season(coaching, wr’s, no running game,OL, etc ) he is still ranked by Phil Steele as the #6 qb in the 2014 draft. And if we have anything resembling a division 1 offense this year and he plays well, he will likely be one of the top 2 or 3 qb’s drafted.

  7. Not to beat a dead horse, but they should have benched M Davis and Roberts earlier in the season and just played the young guys more knowing we would need them this upcoming season. I think LT either has a great year where he creeps back into a possible top 5-10 pick or he regresses to even worse than 2012 LT. I don’t see a middle ground.

    1. Could not agree more. such a waste of talent with those two. No real excuses either.

  8. No mention of LT’s off season work between the ’11 and ’12 season. Getting coaching/instruction from outside VT. Some contended it hurt his motion, footwork, and overall performance.

    1. Yes for all of 3 days and from the same guy Manziel, Boyd, Bridgewater, and Murray all went to for weeks. The fact that Whitfield is still in demand and O’Cain was shown the door shows who is the better QB coach.

      1. I agree the finger pointing at Whitfield is overblown. But as far as O’Cain is concerned, he was also the QB coach 2011 when LT was stellar.

        The biggest issue was #1 above, the receivers. DR and MD were not where they were supposed to be half the time, and even when they were they were prone to drops or would lose the ball in the lights.

        I think we will be pleasantly surprised in the improved chemistry we’ll see between LT and the receivers this year.

        1. Your very right, I think O’Cain was fired more for his being a part of a losing system than anything in particular he did, or didnt do. Especially once we decided to hire a QB guy to take over as OC.

          Whitfield also has continued to stay in tough with Logan during the year, I remember reading a story about LT calling him essentially in tears after the Miami loss, if that doesnt show how much VT and this team means to Logan IDK what will. He also attended the Spring Game.

          But just like blaming a lot of the bad plays on the WR last year we also need to put a lot of the credit on them from 2011, I mean when are we ever going to have not just the best or second best but both of them on the field at the same time ever again?

  9. Just got to over come, stand out, and put the team on your back..that’s it, otherwise not going to be ready for prime time in the NFL..

  10. I’ll throw out one more 2013 possibility in terms of developing trust. Although not used often in the passing game historically, I think Zack McCray is going to step. How much, I’m not sure. But I believe Loeffler will use the tight end more. It appeared that LT and Zack was starting to develop a bit of chemistry. It would be a nice asset to have if it develops into something positive for our offense.

    1. He didn’t look all that impressive in the spring. He looks stiff and catches the ball like the former Greg Boone. Who I do like a tight end is the kid #81 Duan Perez-Means! He looks quick on his feet and has a good pair of hands. Only thing is that he may not be the greatest blocker of the group.

      1. He can run though – I actually thought he looked pretty good in the highlights I saw.

    1. That’s a lot of yards for only 18 TD’s. Darn WR’s must have been running in circles!

Comments are closed.