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Pressure Means Nothing to Logan Thomas

By Joey Accordino
SouthernPigskin.com
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has Logan Thomas as the 4th ranked player overall for the 2013 Draft.

Logan Thomas has a lot riding on his broad shoulders, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at him. He is perpetually calm, unmoved by the ebbs and flows of a football game. After every throw, touchdown or interception, Logan is simply Logan.

His unflappable nature is reminiscent of some of his predecessors at the quarterback position in Blacksburg, namely, Michael Vick and Tyrod Taylor. Like Vick and Taylor before him, Thomas will be called upon to carry his Hokies team, a team that loses four starters on the offensive line, its electric running back, and its top two wideouts. He is charged with continuing the bowl streak, the 10 wins a season streak, and maintaining ACC Coastal supremacy. Oh, and there’s still that empty case, “Reserved for the National Championship Trophy,” that a few folks at Tech would like to fill. No pressure.

But Logan has another potential challenge ahead, a challenge that proved too difficult for Vick and Taylor: become the ambassador for Virginia Tech in the NFL. At this juncture, the Hokies don’t have a player that truly represents the school at the professional level. Kevin Jones fell victim to injuries, DeAngelo Hall is hopelessly overrated, David Wilson is unproven, and Michael Vick…well let’s just say that Michael doesn’t have a whole lot of fans at the SPCA.

Enter Logan Thomas. The 6’6”, 250-pound stud has a bazooka for an arm and scored more rushing touchdowns than David Wilson did last year. There’s very little consensus about next year’s NFL Draft, but one thing that most pundits can agree upon is that Thomas is a potential first rounder. In fact, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. has Thomas as the 4th ranked player overall for the 2013 Draft. If Logan were indeed selected there next April, it would be the highest spot that a Hokie has been picked since 2001, when Michael Vick was taken first overall.

So when you watch Logan Thomas drop back this fall and throw a bomb to a streaking wide receiver or steamroll his way to a first down on a quarterback sneak, understand that there is a lot more pressure on him than the result of that play.

Though with Logan, you’ll never be able to tell.
 

Joey Accordino - Joey Accordino hails from the great state of Virginia, home of football legends Willie Lanier and Bruce Smith, as well as canine enthusiast Michael Vick. When his dreams of playing in the National Football League were dashed by a crippling lack of athleticism, he settled for writing about football. He has written, blogged, and podcasted on various sites across the interwebs, and specializes in the NFL Draft. He encourages you to leave comments on his stories, preferably ludicrous ones.