Derrick Thomas

[Lorax]

Well, I dont see him getting the love around here. But when I looked into value players - the special skills of Derrick are simply amazing. He is the ONLY OLB who is listed as a Speed Burner and everyone knows Speed kills in these games. Couple that with Sack Master and I had to try him.....So built a team with these defenders:

OLB - Derrick Thomas (G)
ILB - **** Butkus (G)
CB - Lem Barney (S)
DE - Clyde Simmons (B)
DE - Dexter Manley (B)

OMG...!!! What monster. Nickel Blitzes are lethal. Basically on All Pro, the computer is struggling to make more than 1 first down. Now I suck, I am not a button masher nor master - I am from the days of pong - when I play its basically simming with a few tackles made by me here and there - everyone on this board can beat me handily :(

What was amazing to me is that Thomas would find a hole and explode thru it shrug off blockers while rushing. Where alot of blitzing in these games consists of guy just following a predetermined route - Thomas would loop around another guy a'la twist if necessary. His AI was incredible.

If you are looking to make an explosive defense - definitely consider Derrick Thomas - he is easily the best OLB in the game and can impact game in so many ways - run down running plays with lightning quickness, zone monster closing on the ball & players and just a natural pass rusher....Couple him with Manley & Simmons and you have THREE FIVE TOOL pass rushers - Good luck to the other teams QB :rotfl:

[Go Marcels]

Yay, another DT lover. I was preaching about Thomas a few days ago, he's great. I have Simmons, Manley, DT, and Jessie Tuggle, so hunting down the run is pretty fun.

And nickel blitzes work like a charm. Everytime I dring DT either him or one of my D lineman almost always get to the QB. And when they don't, Thomas applies enough pressure so that the QB gets the ball off too early and increases the chance of me getting a pick.

His speed burner ability really does show. I've seen him sprint from one side of the field all the over to the other on a sweep and be the first to hit the ballcarrier before he could break out into the open.

His tackling is great, too. Numerous times I've seen him out in the open going toe to toe with Earl Campbell only to swallow him up for a loss of a couple of yards.

A lot of the times I don't even control Thomas and leave him up to his own devices. When I blitz him and the CPU controls him, he simply sprints right around the left tackle and goes untouched to lay a hit on the qb, it's always fun to watch. When he grabs a hold of any QB they are for sure going down...I haven't seen one quarterback break away from Thomas yet.

[thaSLAB]

Thats looks similar to my defense... D. Thomas was the first player I picked when I got the game (due to the fact Im a Chiefs fan), I also have Barney (for the Lions fan in me...lol) and Simmons (just because he's a beast.)

[Franoculator]

Agreed. DT is great.

(Another Chief's fan here.)

To the other Chiefs fans out there... did you happen to see Deron Cherry at the Royals/Yankees game last night?

[Reed#20]

DT was great in real life, but to me, he doesn't do much in this game. I do not see the guy who holds the single game sack record in the player model VC has named Derrick Thomas :(

[Lorax]

DT was great in real life, but to me, he doesn't do much in this game. I do not see the guy who holds the single game sack record in the player model VC has named Derrick Thomas :(

Like Anything else - its finding the right defense. If you are gonna use Dime - he doesnt even play without subbing him in.....Soft zones wont do alot. Use him in the Nickel Zones flats and blast blitzes as well as Bear and 4-3 blitzes - well, different story :cool: .....It also matter who he is with - put him with a superior inside backer and DE and you have a "triangle of death" so to speak - put him next to a generic ILB and DE and well, its pretty easy to neutralize anyone that way.....

If there is a way that most people need to consider in team building its complementing players rather than just picking them. When I built this defense he is so dominant in - I had a plan - a Run stopping ILB with leadership, a pass rushing DE, a pass rushing OLB and a top corner. On the Right side of my defense - the OL's weak side - I have a foursome of Barney, Derrick Thomas, **** Butkus & Dexter Manley. An offense CANT neutralize that side.

They either have to run all their plays to the right side or suffer the consequences. On that right side I can just funnel things back to them with the generics on running plays. On passing plays I can overload blitz with Thomas, Butkus & Manley on the left side and leave Clyde Simmons to clean up anything that ends up to the right. The QB (even the best) are completely uncomfortable even with the best lines.

[Franoculator]

Actually, I've noticed in 2K8, that it's nearly impossible to run the ball against DT. One of his biggest liabilities as a player was his ineffectiveness against the run. It's a huge problem for him every year when the Hall of Fame voters get together... that he was too one dimensional.

[Drunknfury xbgl]

I used him once, and he didnt really do anything for me. Myself, id rather have an ILB controlling the middle. I use Greg Lloyd at silver, and to me, thats a steal.

DT is, was, and will always be a badarse player. In this game, and the way i play, i just cant use him, and dont feel like using a GOLD on him

[the decider13]

DT is def a beast, I agree with how effective the nickel blitzes are. But as the above poster said, I really prefer a MLB or even a D lineman. But Youngblood gets the job done most the time, so I pick butkus.

[Grizz21]

I have Butkus and Banks controlling the middle along with Clyde Simmons at DE and I am pretty effective at stopping the run.

[sportsman312000]

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u311/afroholic315/Thomas.jpg

[Franoculator]

That's awesome! Nice job.