Big Cat Country
The Jaguars’ 23rd overall pick, Brian Thomas Jr., is tied for Brock Bowers with +2500 odds to win 2024 NFL Rookie of the Year.
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, new Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. is tied with fellow rookie Brock Bowers for the 10th-lowest odds to win 2024 Rookie of the Year (+2500).
Thomas was selected 23rd overall on Thursday evening out of LSU.
First overall pick Caleb Williams has the lowest odds at +200. The other rookies listed in front of Thomas are quarterbacks Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, J.J. McCarthy and Bo Nix plus receivers Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, Rome Odunze and Xavier Worthy.
Worthy is the only player of that group who was selected after Thomas in the draft (the 40-yard dash record-holder did land with the defending world champs). Round 1’s biggest surprise, Michael Penix Jr., is the only skill player who was picked ahead of Thomas but didn’t have lower odds than him.
Thomas is admittedly not a great value here. His first-round status, entrancing traits and opportunity with a top-10 quarterback could very well result in a record-breaking campaign. However, even with Zay Jones a possible cut candidate, Thomas projects as no better than fourth in the pecking order behind Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis and Evan Engram next year.
On Thursday, Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke called Thomas “a younger receiver for Trevor [Lawrence] to build around and our offense to build around.” The rookie wideout is immediately one of the franchise’s most important building blocks — but given his competition for targets, it could take Thomas some time to produce well enough to earn NFL hardware.
