• Back to field-stretching form: Thomas snagged two deep receptions on a 96.3 deep PFF receiving grade, which better resembles his figure from 2024.

• Avoiding self-inflicted wounds: The second-year wideout has now gone two games without a drop, which is encouraging given he holds the second-highest drop rate among qualifiers.

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Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Although the Jaguars entered Week 14 atop the AFC South, their season has been a rather sinuous one. The team started 5-4, reaching the peaks of beating the Chiefs and 49ers while choking a lead to the Davis Mills-led Texans and going to overtime with the Raiders.

However, Jacksonville has particularly clicked in its last four games, having four its last four matchups to gain control in the division. As if things could get any better for the Jaguars, rookie sensation Brian Thomas Jr. may finally be ending his sophomore slump.

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Against the Colts in Week 14, Thomas looked like his first-year self, earning a season-best 79.4 PFF receiving grade along with 87 receiving yards. The LSU product added a terrific 2.81 yards per route run — also his best mark in 2025. Although Thomas tallied only six targets and three catches, all three of those receptions moved the chains.

Thomas has always been a top-tier deep threat since he broke into the NFL in 2024, owning a career 12.7-yard average depth of target. However, Thomas reset the bar for even himself in terms of being a field-stretcher in Week 14. His 25.8-yard aDoT was a career high, and one of the highest figures in a game this year.

Highest Single-Game aDoT for WRs in 2025 (Min. 5 Targets)

Unsurprisingly, Thomas made the Colts pay down the field. On four attempts of 20 yards or longer, Thomas snagged two of his targets for 69 yards — which culminated in a 96.0 PFF receiving grade. Sunday represents closer form to what we saw out of Thomas in 2024, when he garnered a 96.3 deep PFF receiving grade. For context, that same figure was just 75.4 through the first 13 games of this season.

Also crucial for Thomas is that he recorded another game with zero drops, his second in a row. Considering that his 16.7% drop rate is the second-highest among qualified receivers, that’s an enormous step in the right direction.

Factoring in Thomas’ turnaround, the Jaguars played a strong offensive game, particularly through the air. The team averaged 0.287 EPA per pass, which is above the 70^th percentile for this year — as well as a season-high mark. Moreover, Trevor Lawrence notched six explosive passes en route to a season-best 86.8 PFF passing grade.

Jakobi Meyers has rightfully assumed the spotlight since arriving in Jacksonville in Week 10, producing an 80.1 PFF receiving grade in that span to stabilize a shaky receiving corps. But on Sunday, it was Thomas who made the bigger impact in arguably the team’s most paramount showdown of 2025.

If the rookie star can maintain this level of efficiency without mistakes, it elevates the Jaguars from AFC South favorites — where they own a 52% chance of winning the division crown — to possible noise-makers in a wide-open AFC.