What the Jaguars Want to See Rookie Phenom Do to Finish Off 2024

While the 2024 season has gone off the rails for the Jacksonville Jaguars, there has been one consistent bright spot: rookie wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.

Through 11 games, Thomas has 42 catches for 689 yards and five touchdowns, ranking him fourth in catches and receiving yards and second in touchdown catches among all rookies.

So far, the No. 23 pick has been everything the Jaguars could have hoped for and more. He has shown legit No. 1 wide receiver skills and has even proven to be more than just a dynamic deep that he was in college.

So, what else can he show the Jaguars over the final six weeks of the season? For one, the same consistent improvement he showed during the season's first 11 games.

“I mean the biggest thing is just continued growth every single week, which is what he's done. I think one of the coolest things was him playing through injury because that was something you didn't necessarily know," Jaguars offensive coordinator Press Taylor said.

"We didn't know how bad his injury was, what he could tolerate, what he could do. We tried to keep him out of certain situations for probably two weeks there just to protect him from himself a little bit, but he was fired up ready to go."

Thomas could be the offense's biggest benefactor from the return of Trevor Lawrence to the lineup. After big catches in seemingly every single game during the first half-plus of the season, the Jaguars' deep ball went missing went Lawrence went down with injury.

With Lawrence now back in the mix, the Jaguars will lean on Thomas to continue to raise his stock and profile as they finish the 2024 season out.

"He gets better every single week. We’ve been able to move them all around the formation, do a number of different things with him, hand him the ball. He's probably been a better ball-carrier than we anticipated even coming out of college," Taylor said.

"So, that's been cool to see but just his overall maturation throughout the course of when we got him back in April to the first time we got him in the building with us, to where he is now has been really, really cool to see. Just watching him continue to grow every single week.”

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