Green Bay Packers 2021 NFL Draft Prospects to Know: CB Ambry Thomas
By Paul Bretl
Cornerback is what most would consider the biggest need that the Green Bay Packers have to fill this offseason. Currently, they have Jaire Alexander locking down his half of the field, but after him, there are several unknowns.
The return of Kevin King and Chandon Sullivan does provide some stability, but they don’t necessarily solve the problem either. Green Bay should be trying to upgrade the position in 2021 but also restocking the cornerback shelf as Alexander is the only player guaranteed to be on this team beyond this season.
Fortunately, for the Green Bay Packers, it’s a very deep cornerback class, and Ambry Thomas from Michigan is someone fans should know. He has already met with Green Bay as part of the pre-draft process.
The 6’0” – 183 pound Thomas has just one year of starting experience at Michigan, which came in 2019. He then opted out of the 2020 season.
Primarily a boundary corner, Thomas was targeted 47 times during the 2019 season and allowed a completion rate of 53.2 percent at 13.3 yards per catch. He would also come away with three interceptions, forced three pass breakups, was called for three penalties, and had a passer rating when targeted of 56.3.
In addition to providing a hopeful boost at the cornerback position, Thomas has ample experience as a kick returner with 39 career attempts at 20.7 yards per return with a touchdown. As we all know, the Green Bay Packers have struggled to find a reliable return man over the years, and the kick return unit has struggled because of it.
From an athleticism standpoint, Thomas had an excellent Pro-Day, scoring 9.48 out of 10 on the Relative Athletic Scoring table. As I highlighted in a recent article, this is an important metric for Packer fans to know as Brian Gutekunst loves drafting elite athletes at their respective positions.
Now for a closer look at Thomas’ game and what he could bring to Green Bay, here is what Kyle Crabbs of The Draft Network had to say about him in his pre-draft report:
"“Thomas was most effective in coverage playing in press and disrupting route releases inside the contact window—he’s a physical player who does well when able to get his hands on the receiver and upset the timing of patterns. Thomas also flashes quite a bit in shallow spaces as a flat defender in zone coverage; showcasing good awareness of plays developing underneath to drive back to the football. Thomas’ ceiling in the draft will be directly tied to how comfortable teams are with a “redshirt” 2020 season and him standing on his tape from the previous year.”"
Currently, on PFF’s big board, Thomas is slotted in as the 117th player overall and the 17th rated cornerback. The Draft Network feels similarly with Thomas as the 15th rated corner and 120th player overall. If the Packers are to take him, it could be in the late third or fourth-round range.
With Thomas’ lack of experience, I’m not so sure that he’s someone that comes in and takes over the CB2 responsibilities immediately. Rather he will likely share time with King, with his role potentially expanding as the season progresses based on his play.
But given the need at this position for the Packers not only for 2021 but in future years as well, chances are that if Thomas is in fact a mid-round pick, he likely won’t be the first cornerback selected by Green Bay in this draft—which alleviates the need to have Thomas perform right away.
As Crabbs mentioned, he projects Thomas as a potential starting corner in the NFL, but expectations shouldn’t be that that’s going to happen immediately. And after all, that is what the draft is about. The good teams select players based on who they believe they will become, not who they are on draft night.