2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Azareye’h Thomas (CB – Florida State)

FantasyPros will be taking a look at early NFL Draft scouting reports before the Combine in March. Here’s a look at Florida State cornerback Azareye’h Thomas. And check out our entire 2025 NFL Draft Guide.

2025 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Azareye’h Thomas

Azareye’h Thomas (CB – Florida State)

6-foot-2 | 198 Pounds

Background

Azareye’h Thomas was a four-star recruit whose brother Juanyeh Thomas plays safety for the Dallas Cowboys. He rotated in heavily over his first two seasons, finishing with 14 tackles, one interception and one breakup in 2022. He followed that up with 29 tackles and 10 breakups in 2023. Took over a starting job this past season, putting together a line of 52 tackles, one interception and four breakups before declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Positives

Thomas was a three-year contributor who was able to step into a starting role and perform this past season. Teams respected him and rarely threw his way. A tall, long-limbed cornerback who looks the part. Plays a lot of bail coverage with shuffle technique into zone out of press looks, covering a lot of ground with his strides to get depth.

Plays with a physical temperament well-suited to bump-and-run. Clean, quick footwork to match releases at the line; does a nice job of staying connected against inside releases. Does a nice job of using his length to disrupt releases and pin opponents to the sideline when playing press from the short side of the field. Smooth mover with above-average speed and a flexible build; can flip his hips and carry receivers down the sidelines or keep pace relatively well on shallow crosses.

Feels routes well to stay connected through the stem. Transitions to driving on a spot well, with a physical approach to defending against screens or rushing attempts. A willing and generally reliable tackler with a wide radius.

Negatives

Could stand to continue developing his functional strength, as there are occasional issues with contact balance when taking on blocks in the run game. Struggles to disengage from blockers and needs to improve his hand technique to shed. Thomas had some snaps in which he overpursued or failed to break down in space, leading to missed tackles. Could be a result of coaching, but his zone drops look overly conservative, creating big windows for throws underneath; would like to see the drops be more closely tailored to the route combinations.

There are some uncoordinated and awkward movements in his transitions at times when working in man coverage. Didn’t have a ton of on-ball production, making it difficult to evaluate his ball skills.

Summary

A bit of a difficult evaluation in that he wasn’t tested very often this past season, and his scheme could be overly conservative at times, making it difficult to evaluate his ball skills when in-phase. As it currently stands, has some work to do in terms of his overall coordination, balance and technique, especially in run support.

However, cornerbacks with Thomas’ type of size, length, flexibility and athleticism don’t exactly grow on trees. Would fit best as a boundary corner in a press-man scheme that lets him get physical at the line and use his length to pin receivers to the sidelines. Looks like more of a second-day value pick to me, but is getting some first-round hype, so we’ll split the difference on the projection.

Projection: Round 2

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