Chiefs: Sold on Juan Thornhill, Not a Surprise

Chiefs: Sold on Juan Thornhill, Not a Surprise

Some Homers are just that and some can be Home Runs too!

I have to admit it now, before I start this, that yes I am a Chiefs Homer. Yes, I am an optimist now and have been since Reid and Dorsey took over in 2013. Yes, it’s true, I felt the Chiefs have had the talent to get the the Super Bowl, given the right circumstances and no those circumstances have not seen fortune come their way. The caveat to that is the 2018 AFC Championship finale. The Chiefs were “There.” Were you “out there?” You could see it: crest fallen players due to a stupid error by our OLB. Stupid.

Going beyond that? I knew and played the mocks up to get the talent where the Chiefs were weak. I think you might recall that I wanted a Safety and Corner who were starter quality picks. I did get my wish when Brett Veach drafted Juan Thornhill.

Thornhill was one of my top two picks at Safety and I knew in my heart this was the right choice. Veach brought him aboard. I had him in round 2 that Veach took him in with an acquired pick as the next to last player selected in that round.

Thornhill Metrics

A clear view of Thornhill will show you a lot about the player and a couple of simple stats demonstrate clarity: Thornhill  had 13 INTs in 3 years with as a Cavalier with 20 PBUs. I would state that among most secondary players these numbers tell a success story that has few peers.

If I were to look at straight underwear stuff: Thornhill compares well to all competitors you might rank. His 40 time was 4:42, at 6-0, 205 with good arm span. He did not do the 3-cone or shuttle at the combine but Louis Riddick of ESPN had a view of what Thornhill was accomplishing early in camp and tweeted the following:

A “Rogue View” From Ryan Tracy of Rogue Analytics

According to Rogue Analytics however, Juan Thornhill ranked in the first round type category for all measurements. His worst? Short Area Quickness, and he still ranked in the 96th percentile.

When I check the 5 point graphic for all crucial measurements, Thornhill pushes the max in all categories save the SAQ.  These measurements go against the trend of seeing someone rank him as lacking “Burst.” It’s just not true. If each category of the 5 metrics used by Rogue is an indicator, Thornhill was truly a round 1 caliber talent that Brett Veach acquired at pick 63. That makes him a steal.

Thornhill was ranked at the top of almost every Rogue Analytics measurement device which would an did place him as a highly desired draft pick for round 1 or 2 of the 2019 draft.

o His evaluation led all Safeties measured overall.

o In the deep range as Ryan Tracy observes, there were 3 safeties who Master Athletes: Juan Thornhill, Darnell Savage and Zedrick Woods.

o 12 prospects were tops in at least one of the matrices and Thornhill was one of those.

o Thornhill was the 1st in Athletic Matrixes

o Thornhill was 2nd in safety trait balancing: Deep v. SAQ

o Thornhill ranked 1st in Hawk rate behind the line of scrimmage

o Thornhill ranked 1st in hawk rate for PBU’s and Interceptions

Thornhill Overall

Deep Range 100%, Explosion Matrix 100%, SAQ 95%+, Master Athletic 98.8, Explosive Range 99.8. As you can see the measurements push the edges of the combine matrix to the limits.

Other Sources

I gleaned from other sources before the draft and now the following: As impressive as the information acquired for Rogue Analytic, I see an emerging athlete who was budding out of High school and flashing as a Freshman in college. Impressive would be the fact, beginning as a Freshman Thornhill played in 9 games that year, becoming a starter as a Sophomore and never looking back.Thornhill was all ACC in 2017 and had an outstanding senior campaign securing 1st team All ACC, tying for 3rd in the FBS for interceptions, also supporting run defense with 98 tackles, 4.5 of those for a loss, and he had 7 pass breakups.

You should recall how most of us approached the 2019 draft. Certainly I harped on the need for a Safety and Corner multiple times as did Laddie. Maybe one thing I should add to this list of supports for Juan Thornhill being a “Solid” out of the gate type player? None other than Gil Brandt’s view should be good enough to address Thornhill’s talent:

So while I am at it, let me give you another construct, this one by Nate Taylor of The Athletic:

Steve Spagnuolo’s view of making rookies Starters is something he indicated he would not customarily do. On the other hand, though Dan Sorensen is getting the starter snaps, Thornhill is doing his best to make a bid to overtake Sorensen for starting honors. Every day Thornhill is making plays on the ball, interceptions and pass break ups (PBUs).

Editor’s Note: I believe Juan Thornhill is up to 5 INTs in Training Camp so far.

Matt Connor of the Arrowhead Addict wrote in an article yesterday that Thornhill was doing all that he could to earn the starting role. He observed the comments by Spagnuolo who said on Wednesday:

“… I think he’s right on track… there were a couple of things here today the game might be a little fast right now, but that’s to be expected. That’s why you’ve go to get in some game competition and get up to speed with it. But I think he’ll be fine.”

I am not sure if this is coach-speak for tradition: starters have their starting role until they lose it. Or it could be Spagnuolo is lending some protection to Thornhill, breaking him in slowly, letting him shine where he can to break into the starter’s role. We will have to wait and see. One thing I do know is that Juan Thornhill’s attitude is positive and his enthusiasm is “Catching.” That’s power in the making.

As I observed at the outset, I was a believer anyway:

Thornhill will take over the starting FS role, forcing Spagnuolo’s hand, by making plays when he gets the snaps.

David Bell — ArrowheadOne

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