Chiefs Rookie R Mason Thomas Turns Heads in Final Preseason Game
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Kansas City Chiefs rookie R Mason Thomas is making the most of his final audition before the regular season.
The edge rusher turned heads in the team’s final preseason game on Friday, registering a strip sack of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Jalen Milroe. Thomas has been making a bid for a significant role in the regular season and is expected to start in Week 1.
Chiefs See Big Potential in R Mason Thomas
The Chiefs made a big investment in Thomas, using the 40th overall pick to take the Oklahoma edge rusher in this year’s NFL draft.
The Chiefs have been impressed with Thomas through training camp and the team’s preseason games. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said in early August that he was looking good, but still had some veterans ahead of him on the depth chart.
“Yeah, I think they’re all going to compete in there,” Spagnuolo said. “Listen, R Mason has done some really good things, but he’s in the rookie process. Ashton’s in the second year, and he looks like a guy that’s made some steps in the second year. It’s not all new to him like it was a year ago.
“And then Felix [Anudike-Uzomah], getting Felix back has been pretty important, especially with the fact that Ethan [Downs] got dinged. In my mind, Felix made one really good play today in the run game, and let’s hope he can do that, get over the injury issues and be a factor for us.”
Chiefs Rookie Had NFL Mentor
Thomas has had some help along the way, saying he learned a lot from Denver Broncos lineman and former Oklahoma teammate Nik Bonitto.
“He definitely was a big influence,” Thomas said. “The Lord led me to Oklahoma, but he was also one of the reasons I went to [Oklahoma]. I ask him all the time about different things he looks at, like what he does to help his pass rush, what he focuses on. He’s not a big guy, so we don’t necessarily have to look at the power. But he also shows us how you use power.”
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