In interviews, Thibodeaux trotted out motivational
quotes, phrases like “Be somebody to somebody” and
“Never change. Just grow.” He described giving back to
the community, empowering folks who, like his parents,
were never given the resources they needed. He considered
businesses, financial literacy and potential partnerships
while in his teens. And he spent hours with Collins, asking
for the secrets of two NFL stars whom he coached (wideouts
Chad Johnson and Steve Smith Sr.), debating the racial his-
tory of America, exploring ancestral roots and swapping
book recommendations.
Thibodeaux understood the stakes. If he executed the
plan, he could enact dramatic change—for his family, his
neighborhood, himself. He viewed high school and college
as “pit stops” on the way to something greater, with football
the “bus” driving everything else. He would never become
stagnant, never lapse into a comfortable approach.
By the summer after his freshman year of high school,
one recruiting service ranked him the nation’s top recruit in
his class. All soon listed him in their top five. Utah offered
his first scholarship. Then Alabama and Oregon and dozens
of others did the same.
All the while, he worked out three times a day, made
a positive impact on his teammates, won a million foot-
ball games, excelled in class and even chose Oregon overAlabama for its combination of football and academics.
“Consummate team player,” Collins says. One who didn’t
drink, vape or land in any trouble. One who, at that point,
still controlled his story.IN DRAFT PROFILES, experts rate Thibodeaux’s strengths
the same: size, length, explosiveness, balance, twitch and
so forth. Only now, after his college career, there are weak-
nesses that have gathered momentum in recent weeks: raw,
hand technique, ankle f lexibility, too easily baited. “Typical
bulls---,” says a prominent AFC talent evaluator in defense
of Thibodeaux, his candor exchanged for anonymity. “I
wouldn’t draft him,” says an NFC general manager who
most definitely would, depending on when.
How Thibodeaux “fell” from the presumed No. 1 pick
to somewhere lower starts there, with perceived weak-
nesses grounded in film study. What’s funny is that none
of the evaluators called his college coach, Mario Cristobal,
according to another direct source—Cristobal himself.
When describing his former star’s strengths, the coach uses
one word at a time, pausing brief ly between each for dramat-
ic effect: “complete...athletic...instinctive...powerful.”
He sighs into the phone. “I don’t think people are giving
him enough credit.”
After arriving in Eugene in 2019, Thibodeaux asked his
coaches what he needed to improve on, and when they told
him to gain weight and retain his explosiveness, he started
right away. Quarterback Justin Herbert became his liftingSI.COM MAY 2022 43
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FEED THE DUCK
Thibodeaux finished his Oregon career
with 19 sacks and 35 1⁄2 tackles for loss.