Get to Know 'Em: Tyler Thigpen

Thanks to Bob D. (a Coastal Carolina fan) for this scouting report on Tyler Thigpen:

I need to preface this by saying that I am not unbiased, but I am also blunt and if I don't like something I say it, so you will not get a homer report here.. Feel free to visit our message board www.coastalfans.com

Just an FYI we are the team that is in either TEAL or BLACK in most of these videos.

Tyler is a great QB. His numbers his first three years were very pedestrian because we resembled a 90's Nebraska/80's Notre Dame team where we run the ball 1st and 2nd down and then pass only if we have to. After Tyler's junior year and before his senior year, we changed offensive coordinators and went with a no huddle [not sure if you are familiar with FCS Football (formerly D1aa) but it is similar to Appalachian State's offense] and multiple WR's. Tyler soaked it up like a sponge and threw for about 3,300 yards and29 touchdowns and ran for almost 700 more with 5 TDs. I won't lie to you--he will never break a land speed record but he is very elusive. When we played James Madison the year after they won the national title and were ranked #1, he made more people miss then I have ever seen. He has a great pocket presence and knows when he needs to get the hell outta there and run for yards. He throws a great, and very catchable (yea, I know that's a terribly overused phrase) ball. He can throw a laser in there if he needs to or toss it deep with great touch.

Here is a link to a pass he made against James Madison where our receiver made a ridiculous catch (SportsCenter top 10) but you can see he can just fling it 50 yards without a problem:

About 20 and 35 seconds into this one you can see Tyler running the ball:

At 1:00 and 1:10 are clips of him busting a big run. 1:25 and 1:30 are more of the same. 2:35 in he smokes vmi for about a 70 yard run. 3:42 is a great pass of his as well.

All of those are from his junior year.

Here are his statistics while at Coastal Carolina:

2005: 97 rushes for 437 yards avg 4.5/carry, 4 tds, a long of 77, 39.7 yards/game rushing. 133/246 oassing. 118.20 efficiency rating. 1,589 yards, 11tds, long of 60 yards, 6 ints.144.5 yards/game passing

2006: 113 rushes for 656 yards avg 5.8/carry 5tds, a long of 76, 54.7 yards/game rushing 217/339 passing. 167.4 efficiency rating. 3,296 yards, 29 td/11 int. 274.7/game long of 80

There are some people who don't think he has a WR background (which I saw here) but he was a wingback in high school and could be a WR but is probably too slow for that and too small for TE.