Brandon_Thomas_(American_football)
Brandon Thomas (American football)
American gridiron football player and coach (born 1991)
Brandon Thomas (born February 18, 1991) is a former American football offensive guard and current offensive graduate assistant for the Clemson Tigers. He was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft. He played college football at Clemson.
Thomas with the San Francisco 49ers in 2015 | |
| Clemson Tigers | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Graduate assistant |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1991-02-18) February 18, 1991 (age 33) Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight: | 317 lb (144 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Paul M. Dorman (Roebuck, South Carolina) |
| College: | Clemson |
| NFL draft: | 2014 / Round: 3 / Pick: 100 |
| Career history | |
| As a player: | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| As a coach: | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Career NFL statistics | |
| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |
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Thomas attended Paul M. Dorman High School in Roebuck, South Carolina.
As a four-star recruit by the Rivals.com rating service, he was rated as the 14th best offensive tackle prospect in his class.[1]
Thomas attended Clemson University from 2009 to 2013. He saw a lot of playing time at both guard and tackle during his career, and became the starting left tackle for the Tigers in 2012, where he started 26 games over his last two seasons. He was named a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) as a junior, and was a second-team All-ACC selection as a senior.[2]
Pre-draft
On December 16, 2013, it was announced that Thomas had accepted his invitation to play in the 2014 Senior Bowl.[3] On January 25, 2014, he played in the Reese's Senior Bowl, asapart of Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith's North team that lost 20–10 to the South. Thomas was one of 50 collegiate offensive linemen to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana.[4] He performed all of the combine drills and ran the ninth fastest 40-yard dash among all offensive linemen and had the fifth best vertical jump.[5] On March 6, 2014, Thomas attended Clemson's pro day, along with Tajh Boyd, Martavis Bryant, Sammy Watkins, Tyler Shatley, Chandler Catanzaro, Bashaud Breeland, and eight others.[6][7] He opted to perform positional drills and bested his combine numbers in the broad jump (8'3"), short shuttle (4.75s), and three-cone drill (7.83s). On April 3, 2014, Thomas suffered a torn ACL while performing a non-contact drill at a private workout he was attending with the New Orleans Saints.[8] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Thomas was projected by NFL draft experts and scouts to be a third to fifth round pick. He was ranked the tenth best offensive guard prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.[9]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
317 lb (144 kg) |
34+3⁄4 in (0.88 m) |
10+1⁄2 in (0.27 m) | 5.09 s | 1.88 s | 3..03 s | 4.83 s | 8.13 s | 29 in (0.74 m) | 8 ft 2 in (2.49 m) | 35 reps | |
| All values from NFL Combine[10] | ||||||||||||
San Francisco 49ers
2014
The San Francisco 49ers selected Thomas in the third round (100th overall) of the 2014 NFL draft.[11] He was the eighth offensive guard and 22nd offensive linemen selected in 2014.[12] On May 31, 2014, 49ers signed Thomas to a four-year, $2.72 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $506,016.[13] He spent the entire 2014 season on the reserve/non-football injury list due to the ACL injury suffered before the draft.[14]
2015
Throughout training camp, Thomas competed against Ian Silberman, Joe Looney, Andrew Tiller, and Jordan Devey for the job as the starting left guard, left vacant by the departure of Mike Iupati to the Arizona Cardinals in free agency. Head coach Jim Tomsula named him the backup right guard to Devey to start the regular season.[15] He was inactive for all 16 games in 2015.
Detroit Lions
On August 29, 2016, the 49ers traded Thomas to the Detroit Lions in exchange for wide receiver Jeremy Kerley.[16]
On September 3, 2016, he was waived by the Lions and was signed to the practice squad the next day.[17][18] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Lions on January 9, 2017.[19]
On September 3, 2017, Thomas was waived by the Lions.[20] He was signed to the practice squad on October 3, 2017.[21] He was released on October 14, 2017.
Jacksonville Jaguars
On October 23, 2017, Thomas was signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad.[22] He was released on November 23, 2017, but was re-signed four days later.[23] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Jaguars on January 22, 2018.[24]
On July 31, 2018, Thomas was waived/injured by the Jaguars and was placed on injured reserve.[25] He was released on August 4, 2018. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 16, 2018.[26] He was promoted to the active roster on December 22, 2018.[27]
On December 10, 2019, Thomas was placed on injured reserve.[28]
In 2022, Thomas began his coaching career when he joined the staff at his alma mater, Clemson, as an offensive graduate assistant.[29]
- "Clemson places 12 on All ACC football team". Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
- Jeff Gray (December 16, 2013). "Senior Bowl 2014: Rosters announced for NFL Draft showcase". sbnation.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- Louis Bien (February 20, 2014). "NFL Combine 2014: Weigh-in results for offensive linemen". sbnation.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- Alfie Crow (February 23, 2014). "2014 Combine results: Offensive line 40-yard dash and more". bigcatcountry.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- Scott Keepfer (March 7, 2014). "Lineman steals show at Clemson pro day". greenvilleonline.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- Jeff Gray (March 6, 2014). "NFL pro day results: Clemson, TCU stars working out on Thursday". sbnation.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- "Brandon Thomas, DS #10 OG, Clemson". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- "NFL Draft Profile: Brandon Thomas". NFL.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- "2014 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- "49ers draft Brandon Thomas, Clemson, OG with final pick of the 3rd round". NinersNation.com. May 9, 2014.
- David Fucillo (May 23, 2014). "49ers sign draft pick Brandon Thomas to 4-year deal". NinersNation.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- "49ers Waive Seven Players, Trim Roster to 75". 49ers.com. August 25, 2014. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- "Ourlads.com: San Francisco 49ers depth chart: 10/01/2015". Ourlads.com. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
- Patra, Kevin (August 28, 2016). "Lions trade wideout Jeremy Kerley to 49ers". NFL.com. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
- "Lions establish 53-man roster". DetroitLions.com. September 3, 2016. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017.
- "Lions sign 8 players to team's practice squad". DetroitLions.com. September 4, 2016. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017.
- "Lions sign nine players to Reserve/Future List". DetroitLions.com. January 9, 2017.
- "Lions assigned G Zac Kerin and T Brian Mihalik via waivers". DetroitLions.com. September 3, 2017. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017.
- "Lions Sign OL Brandon Thomas To Practice Squad, Release WR Noel Thomas". NFLTradeRumors.co. October 3, 2017.
- "Jaguars sign Brandon Thomas to practice squad". Jaguars.com. October 23, 2017.
- "Jaguars Sign K Mike Meyer To Practice Squad, Release OL Brandon Thomas". November 23, 2017.
- "Jaguars sign nine players to reserve/futures contracts". Jaguars.com. January 22, 2018. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018.
- "Jaguars Sign Offensive Lineman Michael Dunn". Jaguars.com. July 31, 2018. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- "Jaguars Sign OL Brandon Thomas To PS, Release OL Michael Dunn". NFL Trade Rumors. October 16, 2018.
- "Jaguars promote CB Breon Borders and OL Brandon Thomas". Jaguars.com. December 22, 2018.
- "Jaguars sign LB Dakota Allen and C Tyler Gauthier". Jaguars.com/. December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
- Barnett, Zach (February 2, 2022). "Clemson announces a slew of promotions, new hires, and raises". footballscoop.com. Football Scoop. Retrieved February 2, 2022.