CLEVELAND, Ohio — Georgia left tackle Andrew Thomas feels he connected well with Browns GM Andrew Berry during a recent “top 30” FaceTime call, and hopes Berry agrees that he’s the best offensive tackle in this deep and rich class.

“It was a casual conversation,’’ Thomas told cleveland.com in a phone interview this week. “I thought it was going to be a little more intense. It was a very smooth conversation, and we had some things in common. We talked about growing up in a church and stuff like that.’’

Growing up in Lithonia, Ga., Thomas played drums at his church, and the music ministry was a family affair.

“Washboards and tambourines, the whole thing," he said.

As a freshman in high school, he was still playing drums in the marching band until he decided to make a different kind of music on the field.

“I’d be at the pep rally and I’d be playing in the band with my jersey on and then I’d go over to the football team and do the football things,’’ Thomas said. “But my head coach, Chris Slade, told me I had a chance to write my own ticket playing football. He told me that I have to put my focus on football and that’s what I did.’’

When Thomas left for Georgia, he mostly left the drums behind and transitioned to piano, alternating between gospel music and R&B.

“I still love music, but I put my focus on football and I’m here now,’’ he said.

It was Thomas’ character that seemed to strike Berry as much as his dominating performance at left tackle in the demanding SEC, where he became the first Bulldog in 21 years to win the conference’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy and earned All-SEC first-team honors as a junior in 2019.

“Andrew said I had a lot of the intangibles that they’re looking to add to their team, good character,’’ said Thomas. “They feel that translates to playing on the field, so I feel that’s something I have.’’

Thomas was planning to make a visit to Cleveland — one of the Browns’ 30 allotted players to come to team headquarters before the draft — but the coronavirus pandemic turned those visits into carefully controlled Zoom or FaceTime calls. Instead of impressing with an in-depth in-person interview and perhaps even a private workout at Georgia, he’s had to do so via video chat.

“The calls with the teams help me to stay mentally sharp, understanding the game when they ask me to explain different concepts and trying to learn different things that they teach me,’’ he said. “I’ve just been trying to focus on staying in shape and performing well in these interviews, because right now this is all I have to help them get a grasp on what type of player and person I am.’’

Thomas also had a Zoom call with Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and they discussed his wide zone scheme, something Thomas ran a lot at Georgia.

“He was saying me being athletic is something that they like as far being able to open up holes in the wide zone,’’ he said.

Thomas has had about seven or eight video conferences so far. “Mostly teams in the (draft’s) top 10,’’ he said.

He knows he’s one player in a stellar tackle class that includes Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs, Alabama’s Jedrick Wills and Louisville’s Mekhi Becton. All four could go in the top 10. But Thomas has no question about who should go first.

“I played three years in the SEC at both right tackle and left tackle,’’ he said. “I dominated every year and I feel like I’m the best tackle in this class.’’

Draft analyst Mike Renner of profootballfocus.com, an analytics site the Browns have valued, couldn’t agree more. Renner has Thomas ranked No. 1 among tackles and No. 8 overall on his big board.

“While you don't need to have elite strength to be an elite pass protector in the NFL, one thing is for certain: it helps,’’ Renner writes in the site’s draft guide. “Being able to stop opposing edge rushers in their tracks with one punch can make up for a lot of technical issues. Thomas not only has that level of strength, but he also shows terrific agility and down to down consistency in his technique. He's got the best career grading profile of any tackle in the draft class and has done it against the best competition of any tackle in the class as well. All that makes you feel good about his prospects in the NFL.’’

Thomas’ advantage over players such as Wirfs and Wills is playing his final two seasons at left tackle after starting on the right side as a freshman.

“In high school, the last three years I played left tackle and then I was flipped to right tackle at Georgia and I was starting in the SEC, so that was a big thing for me and it helped me,’’ he said. “The next year, I flipped over to left tackle. It was a smooth transition and I dominated the next two years. I feel like going through that, even though it wasn’t in the NFL, kind of will help me if I have to go through it again.’’

With the Browns signing Jack Conklin to start at right tackle, Thomas would start at left tackle, but has the versatility to move around in a pinch.

“I can definitely go over to the other side and play right tackle,’’ he said. “When I train, I work some at right tackle and I can also move inside if I have to. Just trying to get on the field wherever I can.’’

Thomas, who’d be the heir apparent of future Hall of Famer Joe Thomas, joked, “I definitely have the right last name."

He reiterated what he said at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, that he’d embrace the challenge of following in Thomas’ footsteps.

“He’s one of the best to play the game and he’s going to be a Hall of Famer, so I would definitely be excited to learn from that guy,’’ he said.

Although he mostly watches film of Dallas’ Tyron Smith and Washington’s Trent Williams, he learned a lot about Thomas from former Browns offensive line coach Bob Palcic, with whom he worked before the combine.

“I did a lot of two-hand punching in college, and if you watch Joe, he does a lot of high-hand, low-hand, which Coach Palcic was teaching me,’’ Thomas said.

Thomas would love to block for former Georgia teammate Nick Chubb again, as he said at the combine, as well as play with Baker Mayfield, whom his Bulldogs outlasted 54-48 in a double-overtime Rose Bowl thriller after the 2017 season.

“He’s a dynamic quarterback,’’ Thomas said. “Being on the other side of that just watching how good of a quarterback he is, the Browns are definitely going to be a winning team in the near future. It would be an honor to block for him. He’s very passionate, very energetic throughout the game and I’m sure his teammates respond to that well.’’

Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and Austin Hooper also have Thomas imagining the possibilities.

“The Browns are a team on the rise,’’ he said. “They have all the pieces they need and it’s just a matter of time before they put it all together and compete for a Super Bowl.’’

If they call his name at No. 10 to be part of the mix, it would be music to his ears.

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