RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesBrian Thomas Jr.'s miserable 2025 season was one of the most confusing and unexpected player declines in quite some time.
Thomas had a phenomenal rookie season the year prior, finishing with 87 catches, 1,282 receiving yards, and 10 touchdowns. He became the first Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver ever to be selected to the Pro Bowl as a rookie.
BTJ looked like he was going to be one of the NFL's best receivers for the next decade.
However, Thomas inexplicably looked like a shell of the player he was as a rookie throughout his entire sophomore campaign. He struggled with drops. Fans and the media often criticized his body language, sometimes accusing him of looking "scared" going across the middle. After limping across the season's finish line with a stat line of 48-707-2, Thomas was the subject of rampant trade rumors for months.
What makes Thomas' regression so hard to understand is that it happened while the rest of Jacksonville's offense flourished.
Under first-year head coach Liam Coen, who is one of the NFL's most-respected offensive minds, the Jaguars had the sixth-highest scoring offense in the league at 27.9 points per game. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence had the best year of his career and was an MVP finalist. Wide receiver Parker Washington emerged as a star and is expected to be even better this season.
Even running back Travis Etienne had a tremendous bounce-back season, totaling nearly 1,400 scrimmage yards and scoring 13 total touchdowns.
Seeing Thomas take such a step backwards while the rest of his teammates took huge steps forward was head-scratching.
Despite the struggles and trade speculation, the Jaguars didn't give up on BTJ and had faith he would return to his 2024 form this season.
So far, Thomas is making the team's decision to keep him looking like the right one. He has excelled throughout offseason practices, with Coen praising Thomas for attacking the offseason with an "extremely intentional" focus on improvement .
Thomas Determined To Fix What Went Wrong
Coen spoke about how impressed he has been that, all offseason, Thomas has been determined to fix what went wrong last season instead of just assuming things would fix themselves.
“I think in the spring, very early on, honestly, you could sense that he had really looked at things in areas in which he thought he could improve upon, and he was attacking those areas, and not just, like, yeah, it'll fix, like, it'll come,” Coen said Friday, via team transcript. “I thought he was extremely intentional about the things he wanted to improve on, and the connection and relationship with Trevor [Lawrence] and the other receivers.”
Thomas relentlessly worked after identifying the areas he needed to improve. He heard the criticisms and trade rumors and spoke about how the team's faith in him gave him confidence. The 23-year-old has been determined to reward the Jaguars for their decision to believe in him.
Final Thoughts
Thomas has looked like his old self throughout Jacksonville's offseason program. He has impressed his coaches and his teammates with his commitment to returning to being the player he was in 2024.
He has specifically worked with Lawrence to improve their connection on deep balls this season. Thomas' ability to stretch the field and get behind the defense could be a lethal weapon for Jacksonville in 2026 if the pair can consistently make those plays.
If Thomas plays to his potential, the Jaguars' offense could be devastating this season. With BTJ, Washington, Jakobi Meyers, and Travis Hunter as its top four, Jacksonville's group of receivers may be the deepest in the NFL.
With Thomas at the top of his game, there is no reason Lawrence can't make another run at MVP and no reason why the Jaguars can't make a run at their first-ever Super Bowl.
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