BEAVERTON -- De'Anthony Thomas has seen the video.

It starts with a translucent Thomas, all 5-feet, 9-inches of him, and then a giant is superimposed on top of him. The frame of 6-6 South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney dwarfs Thomas. In this video, a mash-up of Clowney and Thomas' 40-yard dashes from the NFL Combine, they start the same. Both players explode with their first step. They blast through the first 10 yards, are neck-and-neck at the 20 and by the 30, they're nearly running at a full clip. In the last 10 yards, it appears that Thomas pulls away. If they had gone 10 more, it wouldn't have been close.

But when the official times were released, they were nearly identical. Thomas, widely considered to be one of the fastest players in college football, had beaten a 266-pound lineman by only three-hundredths of a second.

Thomas' official time of 4.50 was a shocking for an athlete who, leading up to the combine, had been hyped as potentially the fastest player since Chris Johnson set the combine record with a 4.24 in 2008.

If the run was disappointing, Thomas didn't show it. After finishing a workout at the Bo Jackson Center on the Nike Campus in Beaverton on Wednesday morning, he said he's faster than what he was clocked at in Indianapolis. At Thursday's pro day in Eugene, he's hoping to prove it.

"At the end, you could tell that I'm way in front of (Clowney). I don't know how they compare 4.5s," said Thomas, whose two unofficial 40 times were 4.33 and 4.40. "You can match me up with any other guys and you know I ran faster than that. It doesn't matter. I'm a football player and that's all that matters."

The 40 is the only event Thomas plans on doing at Oregon's pro day and he wouldn't give any specifics for how fast he thinks he can run.

It's got to be faster than 4.50, right?

"A lot faster," he said, quickly.

What he hopes, though, is that a number is not all that he's measured by. Thomas came away from the combine optimistic, noting his performance in the field drills. While not attracting the same TV audience as the running events, Thomas said the field was the best area to showcase his skills. Many draft analysts project Thomas as a mid-round pick who will likely be used as a kickoff and punt return specialist. At Oregon, Thomas made the highlight reel in the backfield, the slot and as a returner. He'd be happy to play anywhere in the NFL and said three years of game tape at Oregon better represents his versatility than a controlled sprint in Indianapolis.

"I feel like I'm a playmaker," he said. "A lot of teams see me catch punts and stuff but they don't know I'm a great running back and a great receiver. I can do it all."

An impressive 40-time would have helped, though. With Thomas' lack of size, his speed is his meal ticket. While NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah doesn't believe Thomas hurt his draft stock – he projects him to be around a fourth-round pick – he said he didn't improve it.

"It was disappointing, no doubt," Jeremiah said. "In terms of his size, his emphasis is on speed. It's a speed league and it can be forgiving if you're minus one but have the other.

"His explosiveness wasn't there."

A solid pro day can change that, he said. Jeremiah pointed to Cleveland cornerback Joe Haden as an example. Haden ran a 4.57 at the 2010 NFL Combine, but improved that number to 4.43 at Florida's pro day. He was drafted seventh overall by the Browns.

Jeremiah said Thomas' combine 4.50 was accurate – many NFL scouts at the event hand-clocked him around there -- but wouldn't be surprised if he posts a better number on Thursday.

"You always go off the best time," he said.

Since declaring for the draft in January, Thomas has been all over the place. He's sat courtside for Oregon's basketball win over Arizona and mingled with Kobe Bryant at Nike. Mostly, he's been in the gym.

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Pro day carries less stress than the combine, Thomas said, and he is just looking to run well and have fun.

Running well would likely mean nobody's comparing him to Clowney on Friday.

"I'm not even sure (what happened)," said Thomas of the combine time. "I went out there and ran. It was whatever. I knew I could do better and stuff like that.

"You take it and you run with it."

-- Tyson Alger | @tysonalger

