After committing to LSU ranked as a four-star recruit and 68th overall player (WR9) in the 2021 draft class according to 24/7 sports’ high school rankings, it took Brian Thomas Jr. until his junior season to fully deliver on the promise he showed coming out of high school. But when he did break out, Thomas didn’t hold back. In 2023, Thomas led all of college football with 17 touchdown receptions, while also posting a 33% dominator rating despite sharing the field with arguably the best wide receiver in the country — Malik Nabers.
Thomas then went on to deliver one of the best WR performances at the NFL combine, solidifying himself as a first-round pick in the draft.
The Jacksonville Jaguars made Thomas the 23rd pick in the 2024 draft, as the team has been looking to surround Trevor Lawrence with receiving weapons after the quarterback’s production regressed in 2023. Although there is open opportunity in the Jaguars’ offense after the departure of both Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones this offseason, Jacksonville’s signing of Gabe Davis does provide an obstacle for Thomas to become the team’s top deep threat. Couple the signing of Davis with the fact that Christian Kirk should be in line for more targets next season after missing five games in 2023, in addition to the team also having last year’s PPR TE2 in Evan Engram, and all of those vacated targets could dry up pretty quickly. With plenty of questions still looming concerning not only Thomas, but Jacksonville’s offense as a whole, should we be buying Thomas in drafts or looking for arbitrage plays?
