Azareye’h Thomas Scouting Report

By: Michael Higgins

(Image courtesy of James Gilbert/Getty Images)

School: Florida State

Class: Junior

Position: CB

HT: 6’1

WT: 197 lbs

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Background: Azareye’h Thomas is a former 4-star athlete out of Niceville, Florida. Thomas was a top 5 athlete in the class of 2022 and top 15 player in Florida. Thomas played both running back and defensive back for Niceville High School. He earned Defensive Player of the Year honors as a junior. Azareye’h Thomas committed to Florida State over Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, LSU, and others.

College: As a freshman in 2022, Thomas appeared in 11 games. He recorded an interception and a pass breakup. He was also selected to the ACC Honor Roll. As a sophomore in 2023, Thomas appeared in all 14 games and recorded 4.5 TFLs and 10 pass breakups. In 2024, Thomas started every game at cornerback for the Seminoles. He recorded 4 pass breakups and an interception. He was also named an honorable mention All-ACC selection.

Strengths: Azareye’h Thomas is a press man cornerback who plays with the physicality to win on the boundary. Thomas has exceptional measurables as he has 32 3/8 inch arms. Thomas is a smooth operator and can flip his hips with ease. Thomas takes great angles in recovery and even when getting beat initially, he can recover to get into the passing lane and make a play on the football. Thomas does well at the line of scrimmage to stall receivers on their release with a strong initial punch. It is very difficult to beat Thomas off the line as he plays with such physicality and an elite jam. He combines his size and strength at the catchpoint to force the issue and prevent a catch from being made. Thomas does well to latch onto the route stem close to the line and has the foot quickness in the short areas to stay in phase with the receiver.

Weaknesses: Thomas seems to be a tweener in terms of the type of scheme he is best suited for. He has played as a press cornerback for his entire time as a Seminole, but he does not have the athleticism or foot speed to play press coverage with boundary receivers in the NFL. The only man coverage cornerbacks with a similar 40-yard dash became nickels in the NFL. He has the range to play zone coverage but lacks experience in a zone scheme. He does not have the click and close ability to be able to take the speedy boundary receivers on an island.

Conclusion: Azareye’h Thomas has the athletic profile and rangy ability of a zone cornerback, but he has almost exclusively been a man coverage player. We have seen cornerbacks make the transition from man to zone when entering the NFL before, but it will take some time.

Scheme Fit: Zone Coverage

Ideal Role: Boundary CB

Best Team Fits: DAL, CIN, MIN

Player Comparison: Joey Porter Jr.

Player Grade: Round 2 (81.0)