Michigan Football Snapshot: Ambry Thomas
As a returning starter, expectations are obviously pretty high for a guy like Ambry Thomas. The rising senior cornerback battled back from colitis last summer to return to the starting lineup in the opener and never looked back. Last season, Thomas recorded 38 tackles including three for loss and picked off three passes. He also broke up seven other passes and recovered two fumbles. Whenever the season starts, Thomas should be viewed as one of U-M's defensive cornerstones.
2020 Outlook
In 2019, Thomas rotated some with Lavert Hill and Vincent Gray, but still played a lot of snaps. I expect that number to go up in 2020 with only young, unproven guys now behind Thomas and Gray on the cornerback depth chart.
It's hard to predict numbers for defensive backs. Higher tackle numbers means the front seven isn't getting it done and inflated interception numbers, albeit great for the stat column, means that the defensive back is being thrown at a lot. You really don't want your starting cornerback making a lot of stops and really good DBs don't get many shots at interceptions because they simply aren't thrown at often enough.
Thomas piling up around 40 tackles again would be a good mark and picking off three or four passes would mean he's making the most of his opportunities. He's long, fast and sticky in coverage and will likely get some chances in Michigan's man-to-man defense. It's hard to imagine him really pumping his numbers up from last year but we'll see how he's used and how much Don Brown switches up his defense in the next campaign.
