It's that time of the year again. Mile High Report begins our annual 90 players in 90 days roster breakdown. Last year went fairly well, but now through August, we'll break down every player on the Denver Broncos roster.
Name: Demaryius Thomas
Position: Wide Receiver
Height: 6'3" Weight: 229
Age: 28 Experience: 7
College: Georgia Tech
Demaryius Thomas is your prototypical number one receiver. He has the size, the speed and the ability to take over a game. He has also been remarkably durable since entering the NFL with an injury, having started every game over the past four seasons.
In those four seasons, he has averaged over 100 catches for over 1,400 yards and 10 touchdowns. You should expect more of the same heading into 2016.
The good
He can play at a level that makes you think he is a Top 5 wide receiver in the entire league. His stats also suggest that, but Thomas has a tendency to disappear for games at a time.
All signs this offseason point to Thomas having a “rebound” from his 105 catch, 1300 yard 2015 campaign. That should mean a big boost in offensive production this year.
The bad
Drops. A big reason why his 2015 season is considered a disappointing year was the number of drops from Thomas throughout the season. It’s clearly a concern heading into the 2016 season.
Physicality. It just seems like Thomas isn’t able to fight through the more physical cover corners, despite Thomas’ size advantage. In the 2015 playoffs, his production fell consistently from four catches for 40 yards, to two catches for 12 yards, to one catch for 8 yards.
Simply not acceptable for a man of Thomas’ talent.
Quotable
Thomas recognized that his problems in 2015 with drops had a lot to do with concentration.
“It was probably the concentration,” Thomas said. “I really don’t have a reason. It was some of them that were just too easy and I was probably looking up the field too fast. I’m not going to blame it on (that). They should have been catches. That’s in the past now. I look forward to trying to do better.”
Roster status
Clearly Thomas is a lock to make the team and a lock to start at the number one wide receiver position. He and Emmanuel Sanders have emerged to become a stellar 1-2 punch on offense when the quarterback is able to consistently get the ball to either of them.
Both wide receivers have proven then can produce on the stats side of things regardless of who is under center, so look for that to continue through 2016.