Thomas does not pass nearly as well as Lee, and probably not as well as JJ.
He is only a so so runner, with ok speed, and one shimmy move.
He got the starting job over Costa last year, even though Costa both runs and passes better, because he makes good decisions.
Not every time, but over all, he makes it happen.
Example comparison:
Lee was forced to play in his true freshmen year, did terrible as one would expect of a true freshmen.
Did you know Thomas had to play his true freshmen year?
He started out 5th on the depth chart, but 2 QB's were injured before the season started. In the game against Boise State, two more QB's were injured, and they had to blow Thomas's redshirt and stick him in the game.
He got in late in the game, with the Ducks trailing by 24. He rallied the team, threw 3 fourth quarter touchdowns, but still lost, as there was not enough time to come back from 24. (He redshirted the following year.)
Yes, he has bad games, everybody does. He had a bad game last year vs Cal, and a bad game vs Auburn. (Consider his expected excellence when 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and 390 yards is considered "bad".) But overall he is sensational, and LSU has had a long stretch since they had a QB they could say had overall sensational play.
P.S.
Don't go playing the SEC card, yes, the SEC is better than the PAC 12, but the difference is not so big that somebody with 30-9 touchdown/interception ratio would not do very well in the SEC.
In the Tennessee game last year, Thomas orchestrated the most lop sided loss at Neeland stadium EVER! Yes, last year's Tennessee team was mediocre, but nobody else in the SEC put up those points in Neeland against them.
And Oregon had to do it after traveling 3 time zones, which is no small disadvantage.
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