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A few days removed from gaining a commitment in the 2020 class from three-star athlete An’Darius Coffee, Matt Luke and his staff are at it again, adding to #SHARKSEA20N, with the commitment from three-star Alabama tight end, DaMarcus Thomas.
The Sarland native made it official Friday afternoon after visiting for the Rebels’ Elite Camp on the Ole Miss campus. And despite Clemson inviting him to campus, he decided to go ahead and commit and become a member of Luke’s 2020 class.
The nation’s No. 65 tight end holds early offers from Army, Louisiana, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Southern, Troy, and Tulane and is also garnering interest from Power 5 GPA powerhouses like Duke, Northwestern, and Stanford. Despite none of the offers jumping off the page at you, he obviously did enough to gain the attention of new tight ends coach Calvin Magee and new linebackers coach Jeff Koonz.
110% Committed #HOTTYTODDY @Rivalsfbcamps @Yellowhammer247 @CoachKoonz @CoachMattLuke @COACHCOOK_TE @CoachBrettWest @SaralandSchools @Brett_Boutwell pic.twitter.com/fEbCTnHlOB
— DaMarcus Thomas 4 ™️ (@xxii_demar) June 7, 2019
Thomas was a part of a Trojans’ team that went 13-2 in Alabama’s 6A classification and he certainly has the build of a SEC athlete already.
How does he fit in?
The 6’2, 228-pounder is going to give Rich Rodriguez and coach Magee a lot of flexibility when he shows up on campus. In the new-age spread offenses, tight ends are asked to do much more than run block and protect the quarterback and DaMarcus will be just fine with that. In high school, he is comfortable splitting out and catching the ball in space. Once he gets upfield, he is a load to bring down and is deceptively quick for a guy of his stature.
His releases at the line of scrimmage are quick and violent and he utilizes his hands when plucking the ball out of the air. Thomas already has experience lining up tight, in the slot, and outside so look for him to get plenty of looks early on in Rich’s Hot Rod offense. He is much bigger than Evan Engram already but the comparisons will be made. He may not be as fast as Evan but he will be an asset in short-yardage and third-down situations because of his exceptional hands and ability to get upfield quick and deliver the blow when being approached by would-be tacklers.
And with Octavious Cooley approaching his last year of eligibility, this is a welcomed addition to Magee’s tight ends room.