As much as I like Byerly it seems far-fetched to me that either he or Thomas in the game would get the same results, but with different skills. I admit to rubbing it in to my one remaining Georgia friend, and to doggedly watching all or parts of Clemson, Georgia, FSU and MSU over and over -- as long as we still win, I am all in to replay -- and it is not possible. Thomas is in fact a special player, whilst the rest are good to very good players. Moreover I seem to be kind of alone in thinking Thomas is a very good passer, and if his ball wobbles a bit time to time it still arrives in the right place and on time, with velocity. He so dominates with his legs that his arm gets short shrift sometimes, and even Tech fans fall into the trap of completion percentage without acknowledging that a lot of those stats come from West Coast offense QB's as they dink it down the field. (As much as I dislike Winston of FSU, I have to grudgingly admit he is a great college passer, and unless he gets arrested for murder he will be a No. 1 pick. If that happens, No. 2. Remember, it is the NFL.)
There would be a drop-off, I think, and looking closely we'll see some things taken out of the offense with a replacement on the field.