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Justin Thomas (American football)

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Justin Thomas
refer to caption
Thomas with Georgia Tech in 2013
No. 5, 88
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1994-03-15) March 15, 1994 (age 30)
Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:189 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school:Prattville (Prattville, Alabama)
College:Georgia Tech
Undrafted:2017
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Stats at Pro Football Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Justin Micheal Bryant Thomas (born March 15, 1994) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Georgia Tech as a quarterback and signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2017. He was also a member of the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Legends, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and DC Defenders. He is now quarterbacks coach of the Prattville Lions.

Early life

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Thomas attended Prattville High School in Prattville, Alabama. He played football, basketball and baseball. He helped lead the Lions to win the Alabama class 6A state football championship in 2011. Rivals.com rated him as a four-star recruit in football.[1] He originally committed the University of Alabama to play college football but changed to Georgia Tech.[2] He made the change due to Georgia Tech offering him a chance to play quarterback.[3] Alabama had indicated that he would be used as a defensive back.

College career

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Thomas (right) with GSU quarterback Joshua Shim in 2016

Thomas was redshirted for his freshman season at Georgia Tech in 2012. As a redshirt freshman in 2013, he played in 10 games as a backup to Vad Lee. He completed nine of 17 passes for 131 yards and one passing touchdown and rushed for 234 yards on 33 carries and two touchdowns. Thomas took over as the starter in 2014 after Lee transferred.[4][5] He went on to start all 14 games including the Orange Bowl victory against Mississippi State led by Dak Prescott. He was named the MVP of the game after he had 125 passing yards, a passing touchdown, 121 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.[6] For the season, he passed for 1,719 yards and 18 touchdowns with six interceptions and rushed for 1,086 yards and eight touchdowns. The 2015 season was one that was marred by injuries. The team finished with a dismal 3-9 record. Thomas' most notable performance of the season was against then undefeated Florida State. He rushed for a 60 yard touchdown that kept the Yellow Jackets in the game, making the score 10-13. The team moved on, and Thomas lead the way to an impressive 2016 season. He led the Yellow Jackets to wins over SEC teams Vanderbilt, Kentucky, and Georgia. Thomas had a historic game against Duke, passing for 264 yards and two touchdowns, and running for 195 yards and 2 more touchdowns.[7] The team went 9-4 on the season. Thomas is regarded as one of the best quarterbacks in Georgia Tech history.

College statistics

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Season Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Comp Att Pct Yards Avg TD Int Rate Att Yards Avg TD
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
2012 Redshirt Redshirt
2013 10 0 0–0 9 17 52.9 131 7.7 1 2 113.6 33 234 7.1 2
2014 14 14 11–3 96 187 51.3 1,719 9.2 18 6 153.9 190 1,086 5.7 8
2015 12 12 3–9 75 180 41.7 1,345 7.5 13 8 119.4 145 488 3.4 6
2016 12 12 8–4 79 148 53.4 1,559 10.5 8 2 157.0 137 604 4.4 6
Career 48 38 22–16 259 532 48.7 4,754 8.9 40 18 141.8 505 2,412 4.8 22

Professional career

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New Orleans Saints

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Thomas signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent after participating in the team's rookie minicamp as a defensive back and wide receiver.[8][9] He was waived on July 29, 2017.[10]

Los Angeles Rams

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On August 3, 2017, Thomas signed with the Los Angeles Rams.[11] He was waived on August 18, 2017.[12]

Pittsburgh Steelers

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On August 23, 2017, Thomas was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers.[13] He was waived on September 2, 2017, and was then signed to the practice squad the next day.[14][15] He was released on September 20, 2017, but re-signed six days later.[16][17] He was released on October 18, 2017, but was re-signed on November 6. He was released again on November 20 and re-signed on December 21. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Steelers on January 16, 2018.[18]

On August 27, 2018, Thomas was waived by the Steelers.[19]

Atlanta Legends

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For the 2019 AAF season, Thomas signed with the Atlanta Legends.[20] He played in seven games, starting one, during the 2019 season, catching 16 passes for 172 yards.[21] He was waived on April 1, 2019.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

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Thomas signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League on May 15, 2019 and was released on June 8.[22] He was later signed to the team's practice roster on September 9 and was released again on October 8, 2019.[22]

DC Defenders

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In October 2019, Thomas was picked by the DC Defenders as part of the 2020 XFL Draft's open phase.[23] He was released during minicamp in December 2019.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rivals.com".
  2. ^ Justin Thomas flips to Georgia Tech from Alabama
  3. ^ "A tale of two Prattville quarterbacks -- Justin Thomas' win-win and Jalen Whitlow's quest for the right fit". December 19, 2011.
  4. ^ "Justin Thomas takes over at QB for Georgia Tech - ACCSports.com". August 26, 2014.
  5. ^ "Former Prattville QB starting at Georgia Tech".
  6. ^ Clark, Ryan S. (January 2, 2015). "Orange Bowl MVP Justin Thomas savors Georgia Tech win over Mississippi State".
  7. ^ "Duke vs. Georgia Tech - Game Summary". ESPN.com. October 29, 2016.
  8. ^ "Saints Sign DB Justin Thomas". NewOrleansSaints.com. May 16, 2017. Archived from the original on May 19, 2017. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  9. ^ Sugiura, Ken (May 17, 2017). "Justin Thomas gets his position assignment with the Saints". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
  10. ^ "Saints Releasing DB Justin Thomas". NFLTradeRumors.com. July 29, 2017.
  11. ^ Lago, Kristen (August 4, 2017). "Rams Sign Two Players, Waive Laskey". TheRams.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
  12. ^ Simmons, Myles (August 18, 2017). "Rams Add Defensive Depth, Sign Two Players". TheRams.com. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  13. ^ Varley, Teresa (August 23, 2017). "Roster moves continue for Steelers". Steelers.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  14. ^ "Steelers trim roster to 53". Steelers.com. September 2, 2017. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018.
  15. ^ "Steelers announce practice squad". Steelers.com. September 3, 2017. Archived from the original on November 23, 2017.
  16. ^ "Steelers Sign OT Jake Rodgers, Release WR Justin Thomas". SteelersDepot.com. September 20, 2017.
  17. ^ "Steelers sign Justin Thomas, Matt Galambos to practice squad". 247sports.com. September 26, 2017.
  18. ^ "Hilton signed to extension". Steelers.com. January 16, 2018.
  19. ^ Varley, Teresa (August 27, 2018). "Steelers trade for Switzer". Steelers.com.
  20. ^ Thompson, Jaylon (January 31, 2019). "Legends stock final roster with local talent and experience". WCNN. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
  21. ^ "Justin Thomas". footballdb.com. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  22. ^ a b "Justin Thomas". footballdb.com. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
  23. ^ Talbot, Damond (October 16, 2019). "XFL Draft Phase 5: The Final Rounds of the Draft, Find out who was selected". NFL Draft Diamonds. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
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