But that won't be the case for long for a player with extraordinary running ability who has modelled his game on St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt.
"You're right, with Patton, Cameron and to a lesser extent Boyd … Adam probably slips under the radar a little bit," GWS coach Leon Cameron said.
"But he's progressing really well as that centre half-forward.
"He's very flexible for us. He plays on the wing, he sometimes plays in the middle of the ground, he goes behind the footy.
"Any guy that's got a 9m 45s running ability over three kilometres is gold. If he's six-foot-four, it's even better.
"We're rapt to have him in our team and I can see him becoming a really good player for this footy club for a long time."
Turning 21 next month, Tomlinson is learning one of the toughest positions on the ground while also trying to maintain his versatility.
But key forward is where he sees himself long-term and he need only look across town for belief that he, Cameron, Patton and Boyd can all function in the same side.
In Lance Franklin, Kurt Tippett, Adam Goodes and Sam Reid, the Sydney Swans own the most feared forward set-up in the competition.
There were initial doubts whether the tall quartet would work, but the Swans' 10-game winning streak has ended that debate.
Similar question marks followed when GWS selected Boyd first overall in last year's NAB AFL Draft and added him to Cameron, Patton and Tomlinson.
"The Swans' forward line is a lot further developed than ours," Tomlinson told AFL.com.au. "It gives us great confidence and something to look forward to.
"Hopefully we can get to that point and be the same, if not better."
It's a belief shared by his coach, who loves the forward line at his disposal.
Tomlinson might be the best athlete of them all.
"He's a running machine and a very hard match-up," Leon Cameron said.
"I look at Sydney's forward line – you've got Tippett and Reid, then Goodes and Franklin are unique. Really unique.
"Tomlinson and Cameron are also a bit unique."
Along with the debate over the quartet's ability to play together is the query over whether the Giants can keep them all.
When opposition clubs, particularly those based in Victoria, analyse GWS' list, Tomlinson's name must leap off the page.
How many teams south of the Murray River could use a 193cm key position prospect that can run like him?
More to the point, which ones couldn't?
Like so many of his GWS teammates, Tomlinson is off contract at the end of next year.
But it only takes a quick conversation with the considered youngster to get a feel of his commitment to GWS.
"That's the benefit of being in Sydney, we don’t hear anywhere near as much as you would in Melbourne," he said.
"All my family is in Melbourne and they tell me what's being said, but we don't really listen to any of it.
"All the boys are loving it up here and … you can see the improvement we've had. That's a massive win for all of us and makes us want to stay."
Therein likes the key – winning.
The club's youngsters were absolute stars in junior football, accustomed to winning and winning often.
But following the round 13 victory over the Brisbane Lions, which snapped an eight-game losing streak, a jubilant Tomlinson pointed out it was just his second victory in 35 senior appearances.
That's a winning rate of less than 6 per cent.
Yet the Lions victory was quickly followed by a strong win over Carlton, adding some momentum and belief to all the hard work.
So is that what makes players at the Giants want to buy in, seeing what the future could hold and not wanting to miss out?
"Exactly," Tomlinson says. "Especially when we got the win in Brisbane and then Carlton, just being able to double it up.
"And we really think we can take it up to Adelaide this weekend.
"The coaches instil that confidence in us each week, making us think we can win every game. It's been really good."
