I'm starting to like Brian Thomas more these days. The Louisiana State first-rounder has a nice opportunity in Jacksonville, with Calvin Ridley gone and the Jaguars needing a new starter. And the early reports are positive, for multiple reasons.
Trevor Lawrence recently said Thomas has picked up the offense quickly; that's one positive. The other one isn't actually presented as a positive, but I find it sort of refreshing, since it's a rare quality among top wide receivers.
Offensive Coordinator Press Taylor indicates that Thomas doesn't talk very much. (The link features camp notes on all the rookie first-rounders; need to scroll down for Thomas.) How often do you hear that these days? "He's not a big talker," says Taylor. "So you're not always sure, you're searching for feedback. Are you picking up what we're saying? So far it's always translated over the field pretty good. He kind of nods and looks at you and goes out on the field and does it right."
Jacksonville traded down six spots before selecting Thomas, which suggested to me they were comfortable with another player (although it can be argued they really wanted Thomas but were just very confident he'd still be there at 23). In any case, he was considered a level below the top 3 (Harrison, Nabers, Odunze). But he was a pretty impressive college player, and he's wound up in a nice situation.
Thomas was LSU's No. 2 (1A?) wide receiver last year, with his 68 catches for 1,177 yards a level below new Giant Malik Nabers. But let's not rule out him being a comparable pro. He'll start out working with the far superior quarterback, and everything else looks pretty awesome with him.
At 6-foot-3 and 209 pounds, Thomas is bigger than Nabers, and just as fast (he ran a 4.33 at the combine). He also turned 21 fewer receptions into 3 more touchdown, establishing one of the more impressive scoring rates by a first-round pick in the last 10 years.
Table shows percentage of catches resulting in touchdowns by first-round wideouts since 2015. Skeptics will note that the two guys better than Thomas in this regard were not good pros, but I'm going to call it impressive production anyway (and Thomas did it on almost twice as many receptions as one of them).
| 1ST-ROUND WRS, 2015-2024, FINAL YR OF COLLEGE | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Pk | Player | No | Yds | TD | TD% |
| 2015 | 29 | Phillip Dorsett | 36 | 871 | 10 | 27.8% |
| 2016 | 15 | Corey Coleman | 74 | 1363 | 20 | 27.0% |
| 2024 | 23 | Brian Thomas | 68 | 1177 | 17 | 25.0% |
| 2020 | 17 | CeeDee Lamb | 62 | 1327 | 15 | 24.2% |
| 2021 | 5 | JaMarr Chase | 84 | 1780 | 20 | 23.8% |
| 2017 | 9 | John Ross | 81 | 1150 | 19 | 23.5% |
| 2016 | 21 | Will Fuller | 62 | 1258 | 14 | 22.6% |
| 2024 | 4 | Marvin Harrison | 67 | 1211 | 15 | 22.4% |
| 2022 | 12 | Jameson Williams | 79 | 1572 | 17 | 21.5% |
| 2021 | 10 | DeVonta Smith | 117 | 1856 | 25 | 21.4% |
| 2022 | 11 | Chris Olave | 65 | 936 | 13 | 20.0% |
| 2020 | 12 | Henry Ruggs | 40 | 746 | 8 | 20.0% |
| 2017 | 5 | Corey Davis | 97 | 1500 | 19 | 19.6% |
| 2022 | 10 | Garrett Wilson | 70 | 1058 | 13 | 18.6% |
| 2022 | 18 | Treylon Burks | 66 | 1104 | 12 | 18.2% |
| 2015 | 26 | Breshad Perriman | 50 | 1044 | 9 | 18.0% |
| 2016 | 22 | Josh Doctson | 79 | 1327 | 14 | 17.7% |
| 2021 | 20 | Kadarius Toney | 70 | 984 | 12 | 17.1% |
| 2020 | 22 | Justin Jefferson | 111 | 1540 | 18 | 16.2% |
| 2024 | 6 | Malik Nabers | 89 | 1569 | 14 | 15.7% |
| 2023 | 22 | Zay Flowers | 78 | 1077 | 12 | 15.4% |
| 2024 | 9 | Rome Odunze | 92 | 1640 | 14 | 15.2% |
| 2022 | 16 | Jahan Dotson | 91 | 1182 | 13 | 14.3% |
| 2021 | 6 | Jaylen Waddle | 28 | 591 | 4 | 14.3% |
| 2020 | 21 | Jalen Reagor | 43 | 611 | 6 | 14.0% |
| 2020 | 25 | Brandon Aiyuk | 65 | 1192 | 9 | 13.8% |
| 2019 | 32 | N'Keal Harry | 73 | 1088 | 10 | 13.7% |
| 2023 | 23 | Jordan Addison | 59 | 875 | 8 | 13.6% |
| 2016 | 23 | Laquon Treadwell | 82 | 1153 | 11 | 13.4% |
| 2019 | 25 | Marquise Brown | 75 | 1318 | 10 | 13.3% |
| 2020 | 15 | Jerry Jeudy | 77 | 1163 | 10 | 13.0% |
| 2015 | 4 | Amari Cooper | 124 | 1727 | 16 | 12.9% |
| 2015 | 14 | DeVante Parker | 43 | 855 | 5 | 11.6% |
| 2015 | 20 | Nelson Agholor | 104 | 1313 | 12 | 11.5% |
| 2018 | 24 | D.J. Moore | 80 | 1033 | 9 | 11.3% |
| 2017 | 7 | Mike Williams | 98 | 1361 | 11 | 11.2% |
| 2023 | 21 | Quentin Johnston | 60 | 1069 | 6 | 10.0% |
| 2024 | 32 | Xavier Legette | 71 | 1255 | 7 | 9.9% |
| 2023 | 20 | Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 95 | 1606 | 9 | 9.5% |
| 2015 | 7 | Kevin White | 109 | 1447 | 10 | 9.2% |
| 2022 | 8 | Drake London | 88 | 1084 | 7 | 8.0% |
| 2018 | 26 | Calvin Ridley | 63 | 967 | 5 | 7.9% |
| 2024 | 28 | Xavier Worthy | 75 | 1014 | 5 | 6.7% |
| 2024 | 31 | Ricky Pearsall | 65 | 965 | 4 | 6.1% |
| 2021 | 27 | Rashod Bateman | 36 | 472 | 2 | 5.6% |
Gets in the end zone and isn't a big talker. I'm definitely interested. He could be the No. 1 or 1A working with a better quarterback than most of the other first-rounders by year 2, and he'll come a little cheaper in drafts than a lot of them, too.
--Andy Richardson