This week, the New Orleans Saints held a formal interview with Oklahoma\u2019s pass rusher R Mason Thomas. For a team with a clear need to rejuvenate its aging pass rush, the meeting is more than just due diligence; it\u2019s a potential signal of a philosophical shift in the Big Easy.<\/p>\n
At 6\u20192\u201d and 250 pounds, Thomas is the definition of an \u201coutlier.\u201d In a league that prizes long arms and heavy frames, he is frequently slapped with the \u201cundersized\u201d label. But at the Combine podium, Thomas offered a masterclass in self-awareness, citing the fundamental law of motion to explain his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tell [teams] the force equation: mass times acceleration equals force. I\u2019m not a 280-pound guy, I\u2019m a 250 guy, but all I need to do is generate more speed to generate more force.\u201d<\/p>\n
By formally interviewing Thomas, one of only 45 private slots available to them, the Saints are acknowledging that the \u201cprototypical\u201d mold might not be the only way to get to the quarterback.<\/p>\n
The timing of this interest couldn\u2019t be more poignant. The Saints are facing a transition period:<\/p>\n
Thomas, 21, emphasized how much he would take away from playing alongside Jordan (potentially) and Young if he were drafted to New Orleans.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019d be crazy,\u201d Thomas said with a smile. \u201cI\u2019ll probably bug them so much. Cam Jordan… he has a lot of information.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Saints have a history of being bold and sometimes stubborn with their defensive line evaluations. If they pull the trigger on R Mason Thomas in April, it will be a bet on modernity over tradition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This week, the New Orleans Saints held a formal interview with Oklahoma\u2019s pass rusher R Mason Thomas. For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2076],"tags":[7,896,55,65685,101114,402,401,2572,2571,6,397],"class_list":{"0":"post-778987","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-orleans-saints","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-orleans","10":"tag-new-orleans-saints","11":"tag-new-orleans-saints-analysis","12":"tag-new-orleans-saints-interviews","13":"tag-new-orleans-saints-draft","14":"tag-new-orleans-saints-news","15":"tag-neworleans","16":"tag-neworleanssaints","17":"tag-nfl","18":"tag-saints"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116140376311934101","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}