Round 3 Pick Out of FSU Brings Size and Speed to Defensive Backfield

Jack Bell

The Jets have signedAzareye'h Thomas, the team's Round 3 (No. 73 overall) draft pick, to his first NFL contract.

Thomas (6-2, 196) started 12 games for Florida State last season and totaled a career-high 52 tackles to go with 5 pass defenses and 1 interception. A native of Niceville, FL, Thomas, 20, played in 37 games during his three seasons in Tallahassee and totaled 95 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 1 forced fumble, 17 PDs and 2 INT.

Asked about his reaction to being drafted by the Green & White, Thomas said: "I was excited to say the least, just blessed, and just thankful the Lord led me here." He added: "I'm physical, I'm going to smother you, I'm going to lock down my side of the field and I'm a great teammate."

Thomas ran a 4.58 in the 40 at Florida State's pro day before the NFL Draft.

"Just looking at the player and seeing how he plays on the field, that's more enticing to me than watching a guy run in [his] underwear at the [NFL] Combine," HC Aaron Glenn, himself a longtime CB with the Jets and in the NFL, said after the draft. "Football is football and he [Thomas] plays the brand that we want to play. He's a big, physical man and I'm looking forward to him getting up here and being able to take what he did at Florida State and bring that to us because that's how we play."

Thomas joins a cornerbacks' room that includes holdovers Sauce Gardner and Michael Carter II, plus Brandon Stephens, who signed in free agency.

"I'm physical, so I feel like this past year that's something that I show some great stuff and I also show some bad stuff," Thomas said. "I learned from it all and I never got too high, I never got too low, so it's the same mindset, the same approach."