Unusually tall cornerback Simeon Thomas, one of three rookie draft picks to sign with the Browns Sunday, derived all the tough-guy attitude a young man could want from a Green Beret mentor in college. Now he is trying to handle a tough-guy NFL coordinator's brand of grit.
BEREA The Browns wasted no time in getting one-third of their 2018 draft class signed.
Barely a week after general manager John Dorsey's first draft yielded nine new players, second-rounder Austin Corbett and sixth-rounders Damion Ratley and Simeon Thomas agreed to terms.
During rookie minicamp, Thomas moved and talked with a sense of urgency, as if there is no time to waste.
Given the fact he is 24 years old and was the ninth and final draft pick, there isn't.
Thomas is drawing on some of the at-all-costs intensity he learned from Randy Whitt, a decorated veteran who served in the Army's 10th Special Forces Group in Iraq.
"Rusty was a Green Beret," said Thomas, a cornerback whose 6-foot-2-plus frame and feisty approach intrigued Dorsey. "In his work as our strength coach, there wasn't one day when we cut one corner.
"His attitude was, 'We're going to do the hardest workout. We're going to do a Green Beret workout.'
"As time went on, I mastered the workouts. As soon as I mastered them, he changed them and made them harder and harder."
Thomas is getting to know Gregg Williams, the Browns' tough-guy defensive coordinator. He said Williams' demeanor is reminiscent of Whitt.
Thomas is one of the older rookies in the league. He is looking for continuity after a college career interrupted by a 2015 NCAA suspension tied to complicated academic-eligibility issues, including improper alteration of ACT scores.
Last spring, he was charged with a misdemeanor after a dorm-room conflict involving more than a dozen Louisiana-Lafayette players.
Head coach Hue Jackson said the Browns did "due diligence" before judging Thomas safe to draft.
Dorsey thinks Thomas has a chance to grasp NFL cornerback play. The new GM gets an amused look when he watches Thomas' uncommonly long strides on workout tapes.
There aren't many cornerbacks Thomas' height (he measured 6-foot-2 1/8 at a pro day last month). Denzel Ward, the Ohio State corner on whom Dorsey spent a No. 4 overall pick, measured a shade shorter than 5-foot-11 at the Combine.
NFL teams are allowed to invite only 30 players to their team headquarters for pre-draft visits. The Browns spent one of their 30 on Thomas.
"I was not on everybody's draft board," Thomas said. "When I came here, all Coach Williams told me was, 'You are here on a pre-draft visit, so somebody will like you."
After a weekend on the field with Williams, Thomas concluded that whereas his workouts with a Green Beret were as intense as it gets, life on an NFL field will be a different animal.
"The atmosphere felt different," he said. "Just the speed. Our walkthroughs in college … we really walked. We are in cleats out here."
Louisiana-Lafayette has a catchy nickname, Ragin' Cajuns, and was a middle-of-the-road team 12-member Sun Belt Conference in 2017. The arch-rival is Louisiana-Monroe, which left Cajun Field with a 56-50 double-overtime win last fall. The crowd was 18,318.
A week before that, in front of 98,412 at Texas A&M in a 45-21 loss, Thomas was in a secondary covering Ratley, one of the new Browns picks who signed on Sunday. Ratley gave A&M two catches for 86 yards. Thomas was credited with three tackles and three "passes defensed."
A day after a 63-14 loss at Appalachian State in the season finale, head coach Mark Hudspeth was fired, partly over issues that got Thomas and other Ragin' Cajuns in trouble with the NCAA.
Thomas said he is trying to put any "noise" behind him.
He said draft day got his undivided attention.
The scouting reports all acknowledge his size. The good stuff: "Feisty and physical, always plugged in from one play to the next. Closes well." Not as good: "Inefficient. Can play out of control. Prone to bad guesses."
His position coach with the Browns is DeWayne Walker, a former head coach at New Mexico State. Thomas and Walker have plenty to talk about. Louisiana-Lafayette beat New Mexico State 47-34 last November.
Thomas is pinching himself, a bit. He remembers the "elevator music" chiming just before he was drafted at No. 188 overall. He recalls a "wow" sensation, like a lightning strike, when he heard his name.
He said the realization he has a shot to make an NFL team produced a sobering affect.
"God gave me the natural ability," he said. "I've got to stay coachable. Whatever the coach asks me to do, I've got to do it to the best of my ability."
Reach Steve at 330-580-8347 or steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP