Thomas Jr. was born on October 8, 2002, in Walker, Louisiana and attended Walker High School.[1] He played both football and basketball in high school.[2] He had 30 receptions for 507 yards with seven touchdowns as a senior in 2020 and 75 receptions for 1,272 yards and 17 touchdowns as a junior. Thomas Jr. was selected to the 2021 All-American Bowl.[3] He committed to Louisiana State University (LSU) to play college football.[4]
College career
As a freshman at LSU in 2021, Thomas Jr. played in 12 games and had nine starts, recording 28 receptions for 359 yards and two touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2022, he started six of 13 games and had 31 receptions for 361 yards and five touchdowns.[5] He led the FBS with 17 receiving touchdowns in 2023 and declared for the 2024 NFL draft following the season.[6]
Thomas was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round with the 23rd overall selection in the 2024 NFL draft.[9] He scored a receiving touchdown in his NFL debut, a 20–17 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 1.[10] In Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts, he had five receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown in the 37–34 victory.[11] In Week 15 against the New York Jets, he had ten receptions for 105 yards and two touchdowns in the 32–25 loss.[12] In the following game against the Las Vegas Raiders, he had nine receptions for 132 yards and a touchdown in the 19–14 loss.[13] In the 2024 season, Thomas finished with 87 receptions for 1,282 receiving yards and ten receiving touchdowns as a rookie, setting Jaguars rookie records for all three.[14][15] He finished third in the league in receiving yards.[16]