The number often associated with Jets CB Azareye'h Thomas during the pre-draft process was 4.58. That's what the Jets' third-round pick (No. 73 overall) was timed in the 40-yard dash at Florida State's pro day.
"I'm not a 40 guy," he told reporters after he was drafted last Friday night. "I'm not a stat guy. I'm a film guy and if you go cut on my tape, you will see everything I told you all when you first asked me. You will see exactly that on tape and so a 40 can say many things, but who I am is on the field."
Jets HC Aaron Glenn, who played 15 seasons at cornerback in the NFL and was a three-time Pro Bowler, believes in play speed over timed speed. The 6-2, 196-pound Thomas tallied 17 PDs, 2 INTs, 95 tackles and 8 TFL over 37 games for the Noles from 2022-24.
"Just looking at the player and seeing how he plays on the field -- that's more enticing to me than watching a guy run in underwear at the combine," Glenn said. "So, football is football, and he plays the brand that we want to play. He's a big, physical man and I'm looking forward to him getting up here and being able to take what he did at Florida State and bring that to us because that's how we play."
Thomas took advantage of his opportunity practicing against some of the nation's top prospects during Senior Bowl practices. On his podcast "The McShay Show" in January, The Ringer's Todd McShay raved about the athleticism Thomas displayed in Mobile.
"You talk about easy speed and flipping your hips," McShay said. "He looked like it was child's play to him. Guys are making sharp breaks, getting in and out of their breaks and he was just smooth. It was just so easy for him.
"Then you see the easy speed on tape and in person and you see the movement skills, the confidence. I think he's got a chance to be a Top 25 pick. I already had him in the first round. I had a first-round grade on him coming into this week, but it confirmed, like I'm seeing it with my own two eyes like he's the best player on the playground. You know, he's the best athlete on the court. You can always tell who's the guy and he was the guy on the perimeter today."
ESPN's Field Yates thought the Thomas selection was of great value in Round 3.
"Thomas lasted until this pick because of his lack of elite speed," Yates said. "Scouts at Florida State's pro day clocked him between 4.57 and 4.59 in the 40-yard dash, which is below average for a starting cornerback in the NFL. But Thomas does more than enough to make up for that speed. He has excellent size, ball skills and physicality to get up in the face of wideouts. Like many of the picks highlighted here, the value was too great to pass up on a talented player."
Thomas faced football adversity last season as Florida State, a school that returned to national prominence in 2023, but that fell back to 2-10 overall and 1-7 in the ACC. He allowed just 17 catches while registering 52 tackles, 5 PDs, 1.5 sacks and 1 INT.
"I grew exponentially, man, not only as a player, but as a person," he said. "And like I've been telling everybody else, we all have these goals, these aspirations. But who are you if you don't achieve them, and so we didn't achieve it, anything that we set out to do, and really truly it tells who you are is how you respond to that. And that's something that I learned from my head coach [Mike Norvell]. It's something that I'm going to take with me forever, so it was tough, but I grew as a person and I wouldn't take that back for anything."
The Jets were on the search for tough, physical, aggressive and resilient players throughout the draft and Thomas checked every box.
"The people down there that have been around him raved about AZ's character, his makeup, his football makeup, his toughness, and his leadership, so that was definitely an important part of it," said Jets GM Darren Mougey.
A core special teamer his first two seasons at Florida State, Thomas took off in Year 3 while making 12 starts and never looked back.
"I'm physical," he said. "I'm going to smother you, I'm going to lock down my side of the field and I'm a great teammate."
