NFL Draft Profile: Thayer Thomas, Wide Receiver, North Carolina State Wolfpack

Thayer Thomas
North Carolina State Wolfpack

#5
Pos: WR
Ht: 6000
Wt: 195
Hand: 878
Arm: 3018
Wing: 7318
40: 4.55
DOB: 5/20/1998
Hometown: Wake Forest, NC
High School: Heritage
Eligibility: 2023

One Liner:

Thomas is a high-floor, low-ceiling prospect limited by his lack of physical upside who should contribute in the slot and on special teams as a rookie.

Evaluation:

Thomas offers upside as a special teams player, considering he has experience on the kick return, kick coverage, punt return, and punt coverage units. Thomas displays excellent ball skills. He rarely drops passes and makes good adjustments while the ball is in the air. Thomas tracks the football well and shows concentration at the catch point to win in a surprising number of contested situations. He has good open-field vision, which he shows in YAC situations and as a punt returner. Thomas doesn’t have breakaway speed, but he’s fast enough to pick up chunk plays. Similarly, he’s not twitchy and lacks elite elusiveness, but he displays enough agility, elusiveness, and subtle cuts to make defenders miss in space. Thomas is an exceptional route runner who is quick into and out of breaks thanks to his agility and change of direction skills. His routes are crisp and not rounded, which helps him generate natural separation. Thomas is quick off the line and deploys a hesitation move to freeze defensive backs before blowing past them. His quick foot speed makes his hesitation move lethal while aiding his release package. The North Carolina native offers upside as a passer on trick plays. He throws a soft, catchable ball with a nice spiral. Unfortunately, Thomas is an older, slot-only prospect who appears to have a maxed-out frame. His smaller stature impacts his ability to consistently compete for contested catches, break tackles, and sustain blocks. Thomas has a limited catch radius and struggles to stack defenders vertically because he’s not a burner. There are some concerns about his ability to handle press coverage and contact early in routes. Thomas benefits from plenty of free releases in college. He doesn’t consistently make defenders miss in space. Thomas needs to use his hands and arms more when fighting through contact in his stem rather than just relying on his feet. As a blocker, the older Thomas brother struggles to track and land solid blocks on defenders. He shows effort as a blocker, but his footwork and framing are severely underdeveloped. There’s room for Thomas to improve his use of leverage as a route runner and blocker.

Grade:

6th Round

Quotes:

“Thayer is unique in what he’s done here. If you really dig into his story and what he has done to his body since he got here ... he deserves all the credit for that for the time and what he does on a daily basis. He’s very unique. He’s above the one-percentile line when it comes to his work ethic.” -- North Carolina State HC Dave Doeren on WR Thayer Thomas

Background:

Thomas was a recruit from Heritage High School in Wake Forest, N.C. in the class of 2017. He did not receive a star or recruit ranking from 247Sports, Rivals, On3.com, or ESPN. Thomas began his college career as a walk-on before being awarded a scholarship as a redshirt freshman in 2018. Growing up, he participated in baseball, basketball, football, and gymnastics. As a high school senior, he produced 74 receptions for 965 yards and seven touchdowns. As a junior, Thomas totaled 35 receptions for 510 yards and four touchdowns despite missing six games. He was an All-Metro performer on the baseball team and earned All-Conference honors in baseball, basketball, and football as a junior and senior. Thomas graduated holding his high school’s records for receptions in football, assists in basketball, and hits, batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage in baseball. He also set the school’s single-season baseball records for hits (35), batting average (.473), and on-base percentage (.561). In 2019, Thomas played baseball at North Carolina State as an outfielder. The Boston Red Sox drafted him in the 33rd round of the 2019 MLB Draft. Thomas earned Third-Team All-ACC honors in 2020 for his work as a return man. His younger brother (Drake Thomas) is a decorated linebacker who also plays for North Carolina State. Their father (Trevor Thomas) played guard at Marshall, where he earned All-Southern Conference honors three times and was a part of three Division I-AA National Championship games.