Brian Thomas Jr. seemed destined to be a star wide receiver.
But right now, the Jacksonville Jaguars can't seem to get anything going for Thomas.
It's made him a fantasy football bust early in the 2025 season, but it's also raised questions about the future. Which version of Thomas will the Jags have going forward?
Normally, questions like these don't come into the spotlight. But on Monday night, the Jaguars are taking on the Kansas City Chiefs in a nationally televised showcase of the surprisingly 3-1 Jags.
Thomas, whether good or bad, could become a point of discussion, because this season hasn't quite made sense for him so far.
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What's wrong with Brian Thomas Jr?
There are multiple concerns about the state of Thomas' game, but the basic one is this: He looks nowhere near like the player he was as a rookie in 2024.
Last season, Thomas caught 87 passes for 1,282 yards and 10 touchdowns. He looked like everything you'd want from a first-round WR out of LSU.
This season, through four games, Thomas has 12 grabs for 164 yards and no scores (although he does have a rushing TD).
The first thing that jumps off the page is the percentage of his targets that Thomas has caught.
He has been targeted 32 times and caught just 12 of them. That's 37.5% of the throws his way, and that's brutal.
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It has raised questions about whether Trevor Lawrence has a bad connection with Thomas, although it hasn't stopped Lawrence from looking Thomas' way in a few big spots in the early going. They just haven't connected.
The Jaguars' receiving corps is conceptually more crowded this season with the presence of Travis Hunter, but the two-way rookie hasn't hit the ground running offensively, so it's not like he's taking the production away from Thomas.
The Jags have run the ball well with Travis Etienne, but if anything, that should free Thomas up and make some of his targets simpler catches rather than more difficult.
It's not a big enough sample to decide anything definitively. But if the Jaguars want to keep up their fast start to the season, they'll eventually need Thomas to make some big plays in big games. So they'll be hoping to figure this all out as soon as they can.
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