Jaguars' Brian Thomas Jr. Earns Top Accolade

Liam Coen isn’t worried about his wide receivers dropping passes over the first few days of training camp, and voters aren’t worried about Brian Thomas in his second NFL season.

That’s why those voters – current NFL players – selected their colleague in Jacksonville as the league’s 61st-best player on the annual Top 100 list.

What’s significant is that those colleagues believe Thomas is better than quarterback Jordan Love (No. 68), former LSU teammate Malik Nabers (No. 67), former Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey (No. 66), Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (No. 64) and Falcons running back Bijan Robinson.

“The Jaguars wide receiver showed he can be a reliable and dynamic No. 1 option for Jacksonville,” wrote NFL.com’s Christian Gonzales, who noted that Thomas led all NFL rookies with 1,282 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns.

Thomas also joined Ja'Marr Chase, Odell Beckham and Randy Moss as one of four rookies in the Super Bowl era to reach 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns. And, Thomas became the first Jaguars rookie to make the Pro Bowl since Josh Hines-Allen in 2019. The defensive end was No. 63 on this year’s Top 100 list.

“This offseason, he is ‘not resting’ after a stellar rookie campaign as Jacksonville has a lot of buzz with two-way unicorn Travis Hunter joining Thomas in the WRs room.”

That two-way unicorn joined the DBs room on Friday, Hunter’s first full camp practice on defense. But Thomas and the Jaguars’ offense continued to struggle. Coen still sees his team’s start as productive.

“I don't necessarily think it was a bad day,” Coen said after Friday’s practice. “It's just we didn't make any plays. We got a ton of opportunities to make plays when the ball's in the air. We have to make those plays. Whether it's ball placement, whether it's making a play when the ball's in the air, it's got to be ours.”

Thomas’ second NFL training camp didn’t start the way he wanted this week, dotted with several drops. Coen shared what he told the wide receiver after they happened, and how he’ll approach similar speedbumps this year.

“I mean, ultimately, we had a few drops today, right?” Coen said. “We had three of them, I think to my knowledge. That’s part of the game. It’s a physical mistake. He didn’t mean to do it. He didn’t try to do it intentionally.

“It’s usually what happens when you lose your legs a little and you lose a little focus. So, hey,
man, let’s move on. We’ve got to be short memory, all of us at all times, speaking of myself.
Play the next play. Nothing matters but the next play.”

Catch breaking Duval news 24/7 by following @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley on X (Twitter). And, share your feedback on Brian Thomas and his 2025 start by visiting our Facebook page, here.