Thomas would finish the year with a solid +5.8 overall grade, actually outplaying incumbent Garay in run defense (+6.2 to Garay’s +1.5) with 10 running stops on 166 plays. He also occupied double teams and clogged running lanes on a number of occasions without making the tackle himself. Along the way, he began to shed the ‘no threat to the QB’ label, registering four sacks, three QB hits (including hits on Tom Brady and Carson Palmer that don’t show up on the stat sheet because of unrelated penalties) and 13 pressures.