I agree. If ur thumb comes off then u got a huge bass free spooling. Never heard anyone else say this

Sounds like a great way to burn your gears out, disengaging and re-engaging your reel while under pressure.

Not really cool with the idea of using my thumb for drag. To me that's why there's a drag system on the reel. Not tearing my thumb up trying ro slow down line. To me that's more of a safety hazard than anything. If that fish goes one way and you pull that reel the other and your thumb is on that line, man your thumb might just come off along with that line, or it's going to get severe line burn. Nah, I'll use my thumb to slow down the reel when I throw a bait out, but not in place of the drag system. I'll let the reel oi the work for that.