Brian Thomas Jr. scouting report: Exploring the LSU WR's strengths and weaknesses

Brian Thomas Jr., LSU

6’3”, 210 pounds; JR

One of the top-100 national recruits in 2021, Thomas was listed behind Kayshon Boutte and Malik Nabers his first couple of years but was still able to turn 59 receptions into 720 yards and seven touchdowns. As a junior, he broke out for the Tigers, turning 68 catches into 1,177 yards and 17 TDs, which earned him second-team All-SEC accolades.

Releases & route-running:

+ At 209 pounds, his 4.33 speed is pretty insane, and he makes sure to push up to defenders with pads out in front to quickly eat up their cushion

+ Can give his man a little wiggle off the line and then detach vertically for big plays, along with packing a dynamic shoulder turn to elude jams

+ Was an elite deep threat last season, particularly on slot fades, hauling in 15 of 22 targets for 670 yards and 12 touchdowns

+ So good at avoiding being hung up with defenders on the release with the way he can jab one way initially to slow that guy’s feet – in particular, how he can utilize split releases and then contort his shoulders to go untouched is highly impressive

+ The explosiveness he has allows him to use a little shuffle-step and immediately become an available target as he runs drag routes into the vision of the quarterback

+ Can extend that break-step and drop his weight, unlike many receivers below six feet, occasionally flipping corners around on simple slant routes

+ The way he can straighten the stem after releasing inside, slightly lean into the corner and make that sharp transition to get his hips flipped 90 degrees make him highly effective on deep in-breaking routes

+ For a rather lanky build, Thomas is also pretty flexible, to bend around traffic and make subtle adjustments to his routes on the fly

Ball-tracking, positioning & catching:

+ Turns his head and presents his hands once he’s entered a soft spot in zone coverage

+ Understands when he’s cleared the second level of the coverage vertically or horizontally, so he slows himself from running into the sideline or ancillary defenders

+ Realizes when the defense loses vision on him down the sideline and he needs to position himself for passes short of the deep level in cloud coverage

+ His extra gear to run underneath balls and expand the separation he has on guys as the ball in the air really pops for a bigger receiver

+ Yet he also does well to recognize when the ball is underthrown and not notify defenders of that, as he works back to it late at times and makes them run by as he secures the catch

+ Displays tremendous body control and ability to position himself through contact, leading to a 52.2% contested catch rate over the past two seasons (12 of 23)

Run after catch & blocking:

+ Once the ball touches Thomas’ hands (such as on hitches), his helmet immediately flips up the field to identify nearby defenders and he’s ready to push off one foot to re-accelerate

+ Capable of dropping his weight and getting by defenders trying to square him up with a little shimmy after catching the ball underneath on spot routes and others

+ And while he may not break a ton of tackles or be as dynamic with the ball as teammate Malik Nabers, he does extend that long frame forward when given the chance for hidden yardage

+ LSU quarterbacks registered a passer rating of 148.8 when targeting Thomas Jr. in 2023 (87 targets)

+ Is regularly able to give his corner an extended stutter at the line and pull him further away from the action on run plays

+ Takes great angles and can latch his hands to sustain challenging blocks out on the perimeter in the screen game

Weaknesses:

– Presents a large surface area and doesn’t always have his hands up for the fight as he’s facing aggressive press attempts

– Needs to learn to utilize pacing in his routes at a more effective level

– Doesn’t consistently threaten vertically and then snap off routes with violence, particularly when he’s to the far side of the field and probably not part of the read

– 41.6% of Thomas’ routes in 2023 were either curls or hitches, with nearly another 25% being go routes

– There are quite a few passes, where he could extend his arms for them, rather than letting it drop into his stomach – while he’s improved all three years at LSU, he does have a 9.3% career drop rate

Thomas Jr. presents an elite size/speed profile. He’s not as refined a route runner as some other guys in this class and lacks the premiere YAC skills of someone like his former teammate Malik Nabers (the same is true for everybody else). But his vertical prowess combined with the way he drops his weight at that height is incredible.

Thomas Jr. can gain a step on his man off the line or when the ball is in the air, as he accesses his final gear. Now, his route tree at LSU was severely limited, where he’d either just go vertically or horizontally across the field, along with stuff where he quickly stops, but you do see some details where he’ll point safeties the wrong way down the field or paces himself as he enters voided areas in zone coverage.

Therefore, I don’t look at him as an alpha, number one X-receiver, but a super-charged Z, who would be best paired with a quarterback willing to throw the go ball towards the opposite end of the field.

Grade: Late first round