Jacksonville Jaguars WR Brian Thomas, Jr.
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Obviously, much of the offseason talk surrounding the Jacksonville Jaguars involves rookie sensation (potentially) and No. 2-overall draft pick Travis Hunter. The Heisman Trophy winner gets both offensive and defensive coordinators drooling with high hopes. And that’s fine, he should.
But, wide receiver Brian Thomas, Jr. often gets overlooked, which is actually a little odd since he might be the Jaguars’ best player overall. In 2024, Thomas led all rookies with 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns catching the football. He also hauled in 87 receptions and finished fourth in the Associated Press Rookie of the Year voting.
Jags’ head coach Liam Coen certainly isn’t overlooking Thomas. He said on Monday via comments distributed by the team that Thomas is absolutely a player to watch in 2025.
“He’s got freakish talents. He’s got some freakish traits,” Coen said. “Just his attention to detail in the meeting room setting, being able to answer questions, you see some of his personality come to life as well. But you see, when we get into competitive situations, there’s definitely a little bit of an uptick. You get the feedback from some of these guys, especially when it’s scripted, they’re just kind of, like, again? Again? So, we start doing more call-it, and you start to see especially ‘BT’ come to life.
“The ability for a big dude like him to be able to operate in the slot, run some of the choice and option routes, but also be able to go vertical and catch the ball down the field, he’s been a real pleasure to work with so far.”
Thomas is already receiving high praise
It can be easy to fly under the radar nationally when playing for the Jaguars. That’s not so much a knock on the team per se, but it’s a relatively small market and the team was 4-13 last season. Unless Thomas was on your fantasy football team, you may not have noticed just how incredible he was.
However, some observers are already referring to him as a “superstar,” and he truly might be. Sports Illustrated’s John Shipley notes that since Hunter is a rookie and hasn’t shown anything yet, Thomas is the big dog for the Jags’ wide receivers.
“The wide receiver room will obviously be led by second-year superstar Brian Thomas Jr., who the Jaguars have raved about both in public and privately,” Shipley writes. “Thomas has all of the traits to be an alpha male No. 1 wideout and he should up his production in 2025 under Coen.”
Getting Trevor Lawrence back should help
Let’s not forget that Thomas played much of the year with Mac Jones at quarterback. In the 10th game of the season, starting quarterback Trevor Lawrence went down with a concussion and was sidelined for the rest of the season. And with Lawrence potentially entering a make-or-break year, he should be plenty motivated to ignite the passing game with Thomas and Hunter.
Lawrence wasn’t terrible in 2024, he just wasn’t great. In just a partial season, Lawrence still managed 2,045 yards, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Not the end of the world, but not really what a team is looking for from a guy who recently signed a five-year, $275 million extension that hasn’t even kicked in yet.
If Lawrence is able to put it all together and be the signal caller they thought he was when they drafted him first overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, Thomas should put up some gaudy numbers.