I normally would pass on such a high level comparison, but Cleveland Browns running back coach, Wilbert Montgomery is a legend in his own right, so he knows talent when he sees it.
Montgomery is high on Browns rookie running back Duke Johnson, saying “he looks like Bills Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas” in OTAs.
“The best way I can describe Duke is what Thurman Thomas was for Buffalo,” Montgomery said, via Ohio.com. “It’s going to be all over the field. It’s a ‘Where’s Waldo?’ He gives you another dimension. He creates one-on-one problems. We hope he can be a little bit like the kid, [Giovani] Bernard, in Cincinnati. If he can do that for us, that gives us a different perspective on how we approach the field and gives us a chance to move people around and taking advantage of a mismatch.”
That’s enormously high praise for Johnson, who left the Miami Hurricanes early to chase his NFL dream, after becoming the school’s all-time leading rusher. Johnson will be a part of a three-way running back competition with Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West, but he reportedly has the lead.