Brian Thomas Jr. has been a major bright spot for the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars

• Thomas shines amid Jaguars’ 0-4 start: He ranks in the top five in most categories among rookie wide receivers, including PFF grade and receiving yards.

• An expanding root tree unlocks Thomas’ abilities: The LSU product primarily ran routes in college and is now diversifying his route tricks in the NFL.

• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all of our in-season fantasy tools, including Weekly ranking, WR/CB Matchup Chart, Weekly estimatesthe Start-seat optimizer and more Sign up now!

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

In hopes of competing for an AFC South title, and possibly more titles within years, Jacksonville Jaguars 2024 is off to an unusual start. They’re 0-4, their offense has scored the third-fewest points in the NFL, their defense has allowed the third-most points and two of their four losses have come against teams that haven’t beaten anyone else.

Still, the first-round wide receiver is a rookie Brian Thomas Jr One of the few bright spots has been.

Thomas was a dominant force at LSU. Despite having teammates Malik Nabers Thomas was incredible in his own right. He caught 68 of his 87 targets for 1,177 yards and a Division I-leading 17 touchdown receptions in 13 games (including FCS receivers). Thomas possesses ideal size at 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds and also has great speed after running a 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, making him a tantalizing prospect from a physical standpoint.

Brian Thomas Jr.’s LSU Career | 2021-2023

A big concern with Thomas was his lack of root trees at LSU. He ran 418 routes in 2023 and 179 of them (42.8%) were hitch or gos, routes that don’t ask a receiver to do much more than run in a straight line. In fact, 728 of his 1,177 receiving yards (61.8%) came from those two routes, though he posted an 82.2 PFF receiving grade.

Thomas’ potential was too good to pass up, though, as the Jaguars selected him with the 23rd selection and fourth receiver overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. Within four weeks, that faith in him paid off.

Thomas ranks high among other 2024 rookie receivers, as we can see below.

Despite Thomas ranking fourth in yards per route run, two players ahead of him — Malachi Korale And Jermaine Burton – They have a combined 16 receiving snaps this season (Thomas’ 122). Also interesting is that Nabers, Thomas’ college teammate, is ahead of him in every single category, sometimes by huge margins (including more than twice as many catches and over 100 receiving yards).

Thomas’ root tree extends further into the NFL than his LSU days. In 115 routes, Thomas executed 32 hitch and gos, a 27.8% rate that is very close to a typical route tree. Through four weeks (excluding Week 5’s Thursday Night Football game), PFF has charted 12,700 routes from receivers, 3,573 of which were hitches or gos – a 28.1% rate that puts Thomas near the league average. 76 of Thomas’ 275 receiving yards have come on hitches and gos this season, a 27.6% clip that nearly matches his route rate.

This expansion of his route tree has made Thomas much more unpredictable for defenses, and based on his early-season performance, he’s been able to adjust nicely to the change, which will create more headaches for any cornerback trying to protect him. While the Jaguars have struggled to put points on the board this season, Thomas certainly hasn’t been a problem. If the team can right the ship, expect their breakout rookie to be a major part of it.