2024 NFL Draft Scouting Report: LSU WR Brian Thomas Jr.

From now until the 2024 NFL Draft, we will scout and create profiles for as many prospects as possible, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and what they can bring to an NFL franchise. These players could be potential top-10 picks, all the way down to Day 3 selections and priority undrafted free agents. Today, a scouting report on LSU WR Brian Thomas Jr.

#11 Brian Thomas Jr./WR LSU – 6027, 209 lbs. (Junior)

NFL Combine 

MEASUREMENTS

The Good

– Excellent build, long with bulk, “first off the bus” type of body
– Tools and teeming with traits and upside, burst and explosion at top of route vertically
– Dynamic downfield and routinely made huge plays 20-plus yards from LOS
– Tracks ball well, soft hands and plucks the ball away from his body, able to maintain speed and leverage while finding the football downfield
– Effortlessly drops hips and is able to change directions in quick game on slants
– Fluid and smooth strider
– Shows burst and YAC post-catch, doesn’t dance and wants to get upfield
– Uses size well as blocker, effective and shows effort/aggression
– Highly productive in 2023, big numbers despite playing opposite another uber-talented receiver
– Tested extremely well, top-ten RAS of all-time
– Ran fairly varied route tree

The Bad

– Still working to refine and round out his game
– Choppy steps to gear down on curls and intermediate routes (digs), takes too long to change directions at top of route
– Struggled to separate consistently in the 10-20 yard range
– Locked up by top corners like Alabama duo (Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry)
– Must improve hand use on releases and not just shoulder dips off the line
– Needs to work harder getting in QBs vision in scramble drills
– Only one year of serious production

Bio

– 38 games, 27 starts for Tigers
– Career: 127 receptions, 1,897 yards (14.9 YPC) 24 TDs
– 2023: 68 receptions, 1,177 yards (17.3 YPC) 17 TDs
– Turns 22 in October of 2024
– 13 of 17 TDs in 2023 were 10-plus yards, 12 of of them 20-plus, and six of them 40-plus
– Four-star recruit from Walker, Louisiana, chose LSU over Alabama, Texas A&M, and Georgia among many offers
– Received offer from LSU before playing for high school varsity team, earned offer for impressing in a football camp
– Caught 75 passes for nearly 1,300 yards and 17 TDs as high school junior
– Star high school basketball player, scored 20/8 in overtime to win state title game (62-57), named MVP, offered by Texas A&M, Coastal Carolina and Houston on basketball scholarship
– Didn’t play high school football freshman year, focused on basketball as dad required him to get stronger before trying football, didn’t play basketball senior year to focus on football after committing
– Missed 2022 Arkansas game due to concussion
– Likes to play guitar and work on cars
– Father was four-sport standout and inducted into his high school’s Hall of Fame

Tape Breakdown

Brian Thomas is an athlete’s athlete. He received a football scholarship from LSU before ever playing a down of high school football (not picking it up until his sophomore season) and stuck with them throughout the recruiting process despite heavy competition. A multi-sport star, he also had several basketball offers from D-I school, beginning his high school career on the court and ending it on the gridiron.

Though it took until 2023 for him to fully break out, Thomas did in a massive way. His yards per catch was nearly identical to teammate Malik Nabers and he had more touchdowns, 17 to 14, on 21 fewer receptions. A dynamic and big-play threat, six of his scores came from 40-plus yards. A long-strider with 4.3 speed, he tracks the ball well over his shoulder, effective on gos, posts and especially slot fades. His two slot fade scores against Ole Miss highlight his tracking and hands. All-22 doesn’t show it well so I grabbed the TV copy.

Thomas shows burst to make plays post-catch and he’s quick to get upfield. He has soft hands and naturally catches away from his body. While he’s big and long, he shows short-area change of direction and basketball moves on slants, able to sink his hips and create space in the quick game.

He also gets after it as a blocker, willing and effective. No better example than 2022 against Alabama on Jayden Daniels’ overtime rushing score followed by the game-winning two-point conversion. Circled on the far right, Thomas drives CB Eli Ricks (his former LSU teammate who apparently chirped him earlier in the game) off the field and out of the play, giving Daniels a lane to score. This stuff is huge under Steelers OC Arthur Smith.

Negatively, his 2023 tape against the Crimson Tide’s top corners, Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry, was poor. Held to 3 catches for 36 yards, he particularly struggled against Arnold, unable to create any separation against him. Overall, Thomas can win in the short and deep game but struggles on intermediate routes on curls and digs where he has to gear down and change directions after getting up to speed.

His game is still raw, working on releases and footwork at the top of his route. And he had just one year of significant production and benefitted from having a stud receiver like Nabers opposite of him to draw attention. It singled him up quite a bit.

Conclusion

Overall, Brian Thomas Jr. has all the tools and traits you want. While I usually ding players who struggle to separate, his game is still developing and his ability to drop his hips tells me he can make strides here. An offensive dynamo with production and effort, he’s full of upside. There simply aren’t many players with his frame and athleticism, making a Julio Jones comp a lofty ceiling but from a tools standpoint, very apt. A stacked receiver class with slightly more refined talent may be the only thing that pushes Thomas down a bit.

Projection: Mid-Late Day One
Depot Draft Grade: 8.8 – Year One Quality Starter (Round One)
Games Watched: at Ole Miss (2023), vs Florida State (2023), at Alabama (2023), vs Florida (2023)