Lineman confident he'll be found on draft day

The offensive tackle from Wisconsin thinks he can make an immediate impact.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Top offensive linemen are supposed to be money in the NFL draft.
Leave it to the son of a banker, Joe Thomas, to deliver more than mere interest this year.
Projected as the No. 1 tackle in this year's draft class, Thomas wants to re-establish the old image of highly-drafted linemen laying the foundation for an offense for a decade or more.
"I think over the past 10 years if you look at offensive linemen, that's pretty true," said Thomas, projected as the No. 1 tackle in this year's draft class. "A lot of guys who have been drafted high on the offensive line have started and started for a long time."
Perhaps Thomas should recheck his history.
Examples
Since 2002, there have been nearly as many busts as hits among offensive linemen picked in the top 10. Arizona's Leonard Davis, in 2001, and Oakland's Robert Gallery, in 2004, were both chosen No. 2 overall but have not yet met expectations. Mike Williams, chosen fourth overall in 2002 by Buffalo, was eventually cut by the Bills before signing with Jacksonville last year.
D'Brickashaw Ferguson of the New York Jets had a solid rookie year and appears to have a promising future, but Thomas hopes to become an immediate star.
Thomas' tools are unique.
At 6-foot-6, 311 pounds, he offers prototypical size, is strong enough to have reached a preliminary round of the Olympic Trials in shot put as a sophomore and is still agile enough to high jump 6 feet. He demonstrated enough versatility at Wisconsin to fill in at defensive end while establishing himself as a dominant tackle and proved gritty enough to return from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in January 2006 and earn All-American honors last season.
Scouts are enamored with the rare combination, although some will undoubtedly ask how he's different from Gallery, Williams and Davis.
Thomas already has an answer.
Attributes
"I'm a different player than Robert Gallery. I really respect his game, but I'm a different player," he said. "I think I'm very technically sound, I have a great work ethic, I study hard and I'm a pretty athletic offensive lineman."
Thomas, who grew up a Green Bay Packers fan in his native Wisconsin, skipped the usual pre-combine workouts in warm weather to start preparing for next season -- wherever he might play.
"I'm not really concerned with about improving my speed by one-tenth of a second," he said.
Most people project Thomas to go in the top five picks, possibly as high as No. 2 to the Detroit Lions who need someone to solidify the offense. And after using three first-round picks on receivers in the past four years, the Lions may look elsewhere for help.
Thomas is almost sure to be the first tackle picked, although Levi Brown of Penn State, Joe Staley of Western Michigan and Ryan Harris of Notre Dame are also highly rated.
Brown, at 6-5, 323 pounds, is bigger. Staley, who has been clocked at 4.76 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is faster. Harris, at 299 pounds, might be more agile.
Whole package
But Thomas has the whole package and has been as dominant as anybody in America over the past two seasons. He even considered leaving early a year ago until he hurt the knee while filling in on a depleted defensive line.
Now the question is whether Thomas is nasty enough to succeed against bigger, faster ends in the NFL.
"I think I have a mean streak," he said. "I can turn that switch on."
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