The Jacksonville Jaguars made out pretty well last night. Not only did they get one of the draft's best players at a position they needed someone at after losing Calvin Ridley in free agency, but they picked up 3rd- and 4th-round picks next year to do it.
Would have been nice to get an early pick this year, I guess, but it seems likely they picked the same player in Thomas they would have taken if they stayed put. The consensus 4th-best wideout in the draft is now a Jaguar.
Thomas was LSU's No. 2 (1A?) wide receiver last year, with his 68 catches for 1,177 yards a level below what new Giant Malik Nabers was doing. But let's not rule out him being the better pro ultimately. 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% |
There were reports this week that some teams had flagged Thomas for medicals; he might need shoulder surgery. That will need to be checked out before anyone is thinking about selecting him in redraft leagues.
But dynasty wise, I'm definitely interested. He could be the No. 1 working with a better quarterback than most of the other first-rounders by year 2, and he'll come a little cheaper in rookie drafts than most of the others.
--Andy Richardson