INDIANAPOLIS. Oregon forward Kaiwon Thibodeau said his main goal at the mill was to convince teams that he loves football, a silent confirmation of rumors about his motor skills and dedication to the game.
Quitting the game early – due to a “long day,” according to the NFL Network – probably won’t help his cause.
Of course, it won’t hurt his case either. Because before Thibodeau packed his bags, he snapped a 4.58-second sprint time for 40 yards, which is great for a 6-foot-4, 254-pound guard. And the 10 second split took a lightning fast 1.59 seconds, which is elite. He also did 27 reps on the bench press.
Thibodeau is an elite athlete who will be selected in the top 10 next month, he can make the top 5, and he plays number 2 for the Detroit Lions.
But Thibodeau is also haunted by questions about his commitment to football, which could make him a bad fit for Dan Campbell in Detroit. Especially when compared to Michigan pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson, who ran slower than Thibodeau (4.74 seconds) but is still an elite athlete who also has an engine that just never stops.
“I don’t think I necessarily need to convince teams (I love football), but that’s media narrative, right?” Thibodeau said. “There always has to be some kind of storytelling and to me I’m a kid from LA and if you know the hardships I went through to get here and the things I had to sacrifice and the things my mother had to sacrifice for me to be here, you would really understand what I feel in my heart. And when you talk about fire, you talk about passion, you can’t even really explain it. I think about it emotionally because all the sacrifices it took me to get here, I wouldn’t even make those sacrifices if I didn’t love the game. So I’m happy to be here and I’m just happy that these teams want to talk to me and get to know me.”
This is a great answer. Thibodeau said everything right after he arrived at the plant, about his commitment to the game and proved his doubters wrong.
But he also said he was going to participate in all the exercises, and then announced his retirement after the bench press and the 40-yard run because the day was too long for him. He didn’t jump or do agility drills, and left the rest of the forwards for positional work.
It doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things, little more than a footnote in the overall score. But judging by the assessment, which is already punctuated by possible questions about his competitiveness, he has not helped his cause to silence critics.