FSU Football: Matthew Thomas shows talent, leadership in 2017 season

FSU football has the 16th ranked total defense in the country after this past week – and a major part has been the solid play from the senior linebacker.

When you are in the middle of a 2-4 season, there aren’t always a lot of positives for people to look at right away when it comes to FSU football. With three of the losses being by a combined 10 points, it’s not as if the team is being blown away in these games and there are plenty of individual efforts that can be praised at this point.

Maybe the first one to be mentioned is that of redshirt senior linebacker Matthew Thomas, who has had three games of 10 tackles this season (including the opener against Alabama and this week against Louisville) to go along with two sacks and a fumble return for a score this week against the Cardinals to give Florida State their only lead of the game.

After the first three seasons in which a combination of injuries and off field issues (both academics and the loss of his beloved mother), there were some who wondered if Thomas would go down as a bust after arriving on campus as a five star member of the 2013 signing class out of Miami’s Booker T. Washington High School.

In 2016, the talent that was there in high school showed when he finished the regular season with 62 tackles and a sack. In his last six games (five this season and last year’s Orange Bowl win over Michigan), he has already doubled that sack total and has 52 total tackles after a monster day against the Wolverines just miles from his home.

Midway through the season, Thomas is tied for the FSU football lead in tackles with Derwin James, second in sacks behind Josh Sweat and third in tackles for loss behind Sweat and Nnadi. That last stat is the most impressive considering he is not a down lineman, but is still getting into the backfield and being disruptive.

What is even more impressive for Thomas this season has been the leadership he has shown on the field and in the locker room. Coaches are raving about what they see from the man wearing No. 6 , who chose to comeback for his final season looking to build on his career and showing people he can be the man in the middle.

Next: Can Tarvarus McFadden find his form this season?

If the Seminoles are going to get to a bowl game and a winning record, the play of Matthew Thomas is going to be crucial – and it appears that the Noles have finally gotten the linebacker they knew was there when he signed on the dotted line.