Tavierre Thomas coming up big on Cleveland Browns special teams

Tavierre Thomas is coming up big on Cleveland Browns special teams

Tavierre Thomas is getting some well-deserved recognition as a special-teams-artist-in-residence for the Cleveland Browns, especially after he made an astounding five unassisted tackles on special teams last week against the Dallas Cowboys and two assists, the most of any NFL player since 2018.

This factoid came out according to the Browns presser on October 8 (apologies to the intrepid reporter who pointed this out, since his name was accidentally cut out of the video by the Browns).

Suddenly Thomas is among the leaders in the AFC in special teams tackles. It’s way too early to talk about post-season, but with KhaDarel Hodge out for the next three weeks with the bad hamstring, the team is almost counting on Thomas to stay near the top of the conference statistically.

"“He was all over the field.  He was tough to block, and did everything we asked him to do. He actually had five solos and two assists. So of the total of eight tackles in that game, he was involved in seven of them. So obviously he did a great job for us.”  — Special teams coach Mike Priefer"

Thomas is another Cleveland walk-on, following in the footsteps of players who had to walk-on to play college football including Joe Schobert and the true King of Walk-Ons, Baker Mayfield.  Thomas walked on at Division II Ferris State University in Michigan.  Ferris State is an interesting school because it has a number of two-year programs which lead to four-year degrees and then on to graduate school. Hence you could imagine that there might be a bit of encouragement for a walk-on at a school with that sort of arrangement.

It seemed to work for Thomas, because he became first-team Division II All-American in 2016 and 2017. He totaled 175 total tackles, 14 INTs, and 35 passes defensed. At his Pro Day, he clocked a 4.38 40 yard dash, which earned him a shot with the Arizona Cardinals. When that didn’t pan out, Cleveland picked him up and put him to work on special teams immediately.

For the past two years, Hodge and Thomas have been a Dynamic Duo on special teams, but for a least the next three weeks Thomas will be paired with a new partner on punt coverage. We will probably see Sheldrick Redwine or Dontrell Hilliard fill in at the gunner position.

Thomas is also being used as an extra slot cornerback particularly in zone coverage, especially because of injuries that have created a manpower shortage in the defensive backfield.

Now here is a shocker for you you.  Would you like to guess who is the Browns leader in solo tackles (special teams plus defense)? Believe it or not, it’s not Myles Garrett (10). Nor is it Terrance Mitchell, in third place with 16. It’s not even B.J. Goodson’s  20 tackles, which is only good for second place.  That’s right, it is in fact Tavierre Thomas with 22 tackles.

This writer’s mind is officially blown with that stat.

Truthfully, it may not be a totally positive number, because the Browns may be playing him in more situations than they had originally intended. But with Greedy Williams out for an extended period of time,  and Grant Delpit on Injured Reserve, the Browns needed to modify their secondary coverages.

Thomas can also return kickoffs, which he did ten times in 2019, averaging 20.4 yards per return.  He is a multi-talented player and he is still improving. He has several roles for this team, not the least of which is now being the focal point of the coverage teams.