INDIANAPOLIS – Study, theft and strategy.
This is how Kayvon Thibodeaux approaches and rushes to the passer. He did pretty well in Oregon, so there’s no reason to stop now. He will continue to relentlessly watch movies about some of the best NFL passers-by and copy what he sees so he can add it to his game.
And he is not ashamed to make sure everyone knows him.
“I steal from everyone,” Thibodeau said Friday at the NFL Scout Factory. “I’m a student of the game, so I don’t really have a favorite [pass-rusher in the NFL now]but I just love to steal … a little from everyone and incorporate it into my game and start evolving. “
He began by watching videos on the Internet of players like Willie McGuinnest when Thibodeau was at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, California. During his three seasons in Oregon, he watched even more – from players like Max Crosby, TJ Watt, DeMarcus Ware, Chandler Jones and Von Miller.
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When he saw a move he liked or wanted to use, he would work on it in the next workout – especially if it was from Miller, whom the 6-foot-5, 258-pound Thibodeau idolized.
“If I don’t make a move, I will learn how to work that move and I will learn how to get better at it,” Thibodeau said. “I will put it into practice and then translate it into the game.
“… I’m a person who can take it off the movie right away and I can take it straight to the field, so I managed to do a lot of it. Literally in most of [Miller’s] the gaps I took from the film on the field and it helped me tremendously. “
Thibodeaux said he studied Miller’s leg work and body tilt and said it helped him be a much better striker for the Ducks last season when he had seven jackets and 12 loss fights, along with a record in career 49 fights.
Thibodeaux, who said he was just a fast man in his first year in Oregon, said one of the things he learned from studying others was the importance of being strategic. He likes to play chess and compare the game to the rush of the passer, because you have to think two or three moves forward.
“I’m not the biggest person, I’m not the strongest and I’m not the fastest person,” said Thibodeau. “Just like von Miller, you have to understand what this advantage will give you, and for me my mind is what gives me this advantage. I’m a chess player, so thinking moves forward. How can I set up the game and dictate what the attack does so I can get what I want out of the situation?
“… I mean, you know, chess is life and chess is football. You’re talking about your first move, and your first move will set your second move, right? Then you have to think about your third move forward, so when you talk about a quick pass, I’ll hit you with speed first. I always hit you with speed, speed, speed. And then it will adjust my power movements, and then my powerful moves will go to adjust my counter. “
After being named Football Defender of the Year at USA Today High School in 2018, Thibodeau became the first freshman of the year to defend the Pac-12. He won the Morris Trophy – given to the best offensive and defensive strikers of the conference selected by the players – as a sophomore and was an all-American unanimous last season. He had 19 sacks and 35.5 rebounds in 30 games in Oregon.
And now he is a candidate to be the first overall pick in the NFL draft next month.
“I think the biggest thing I want to say to the teams is that I’m really a student of the game or I really love this game,” said Thibodeau. “He did a lot for me. Football has taught me a lot. He helped me grow a lot in my life. He will be there until the day I die … No matter what else I do off the field, football is my main focus.
“Winning the Super Bowl, getting the yellow jacket, being the rookie of the year in defense is on my list of goals.”