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#7 Ian Thomas
Not a lot of people may know this, but this young Panther finished third among rookie tight ends behind only Mark Andrews and Chris Herndon IV with 36 catches for 333 yards and two TDs. While this obviously depends on volume, Thomas catching 73.5 percent of his targets on the season was definitely impressive, as it was pretty much right on par with the Eagles’ Zach Ertz, who set a new record at the position for most receptions in a season.
Ahead of last year’s draft, I had Thomas as my 65th overall prospect and I thought he was right up in terms of potential, but still pretty raw due to being a three-sport athlete with very limited Division 1 scholarships out of high school. However, despite my belief that he needed a year to develop, the Panthers already trusted him with a lot in the offense, splitting him out wide as the single receiver as well as assigning him in-line blocking duties.
Thomas ran a lot of spot, zig and drag routes over the middle, where he showed pretty good fluidity for his size and how he can shield the ball with his big body. Ever since I saw him haul in a 71-yard touchdown at Indiana, I thought he had surprising pull-away speed once he gets going.
Watching his tape from last year, I thought there were several more opportunities downfield, where he separated with body-leans and burst out of his breaks, but didn’t see the ball come his way. Some of that might have to do with how banged up Cam Newton’s shoulder was and the fact he didn’t trust his arm to deliver those bullet throws.
Greg Olsen has missed a whole season over the last two years and didn’t even reach 500 yards over that stretch after having three consecutive 1000-yard season. I expect the veteran to bounce back to some degree, but Thomas is too good already to be kept off the field and he will be their guy of the future.
