Demaryius Thomas

Demaryius Thomas

At a game in Denver in September, 2010.
No. 88     Denver Broncos
Wide receiver
Personal information
Date of birth: December 25, 1987 (1987-12-25) (age 23)
Place of birth: Montrose, Georgia
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Weight: 229 lb (104 kg)
Career information
College: Georgia Tech
NFL Draft: 2010 / Round: 1 / Pick: 22
Debuted in 2010 for the Denver Broncos
Career history
Denver Broncos (2010–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
2007 Sporting News Freshman All-America honorable mention 2007 Sporting News Freshman All-ACC
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2010
Receptions	27
Receiving Yards	349
Receiving TDs	3
Stats at NFL.com

Demaryius Antwon Thomas (born December 25, 1987) aka "Optimus Prime" is an American football wide receiver for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He played college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Thomas led the team in receiving in all 3 of his seasons at Tech, 2007, 2008, and 2009. He was selected by the Broncos with the 22nd overall selection in the 2010 NFL Draft.^[1]

Early life

Thomas was born on December 25, 1987 to parents Bobby and Katina Thomas in Montrose, Georgia. He was nicknamed "Bay-Bay" in reference to his father's nickname, "Boo-Boo."^[2] Thomas attended West Laurens High School where he played basketball and football as a wide receiver. As a junior in 2004, he recorded 32 receptions for 330 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas was named an all-region and all-Heart of Georgia player. The following season, he recorded 82 receptions for 1,234 yards and ten touchdowns. After the season, he participated in the North-South All-Star game. Thomas was again selected as an all-region and all-Heart of Georgia, and the Atlanta Journal Constitution named him to its Class AA all-state first team and PrepStar to its All-Region team. Scout.com assessed him as the 22nd-ranked college prospect in the state of Georgia, and Rivals.com rated him the 34th-ranked such prospect.^[3] He received scholarship offers from Duke, Georgia, and Georgia Tech.^[4]

College career

He chose to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology where he majored in management.^[3] Thomas sat out the 2006 season as a redshirt. In 2007, he saw action in all 13 games including 10 starts, and recorded 35 receptions for 558 yards to rank as the leading Georgia Tech receiver by a wide margin. In the 2007 Humanitarian Bowl, he made four receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown. The Sporting News named Thomas to its freshman All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) first team and a freshman All-America honorable mention.^[3]

In 2008, Paul Johnson was hired as the head coach and implemented the run-heavy triple option offense. Thomas considered transferring but decided against it.^[5] During the season, he recorded 39  receptions for 627 yards and three touchdowns as the leading receiver.^[3] Despite being a heavily run-oriented system, as one of the team's few experienced players, Thomas recorded relatively high numbers.^[6] Still, compared with other receivers in the Atlantic Coast Conference, such as leader D. J. Boldin of Wake Forest, Thomas' statistics were much smaller. He said, "Sometimes I think about [not getting many passes], but most of the time I just want to win."^[5] Thomas' mark was the best of any wide receiver from the school since Calvin Johnson in 2006. Against Duke, he caught nine receptions for 230 yards, the second-most in a single-game in school history.^[3]

In 2009, during his Junior (redshirt) year at GT, Thomas had a breakout season with 46 receptions for 1,154 yards and 8 touchdowns. This earned him 1st team All-ACC honors. He finished his career at Georgia Tech with 120 catches for 2,339 and 14 TDs.

Many draft experts had him gaining momentum with NFL scouts going into the last couple weeks leading up to the draft and most had him as the number one or two-rated wide receiver, along with Dez Bryant, in the 2010 NFL Draft, including Sporting News.^[7] On January 8, 2010, he declared his entrance to the 2010 NFL Draft.^[8]

Professional career

Thomas was drafted by the Denver Broncos 22nd overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. He was the first wide receiver taken in the draft over the #1 projected receiver Dez Bryant. Thomas had 8 receptions for 97 yards and scored his first NFL touchdown in his NFL debut in a September 19, 2010 game against the Seattle Seahawks. Thomas battled injuries his rookie season, missing six games.

On February 10, 2011 Thomas tore his achilles tendon while working out and was expected to miss a majority, if not the entirety, of the 2011 season, Thomas was surprisingly activated from the Physically Unable to Perform List on September 3, 2011 prior to the start of the season as Broncos GM Brian Xanders said Thomas had responded to rehab well and was "ready to go."

References

1. ^ http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft/teams/_/team/den/year/2010/denver-broncos
2. ^ "Somehow Bay-Bay found his Way". Georgia Tech Sports. http://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-tech/somehow-bay-bay-found-487904.html. Retrieved 2010-04-25. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Player Bio: Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech, retrieved August 12, 2009.
4. ^ Demaryius Thomas, Scout.com, retrieved August 12, 2009.
5. ^ ^{a b} LOVE THE ASSIST; Receivers embrace downfield blocking in Tech’s run offense, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 30, 2008.
6. ^ Tedd Bauer and William Hupp, COLLEGE FOOTBALL DEPARTMENT: GENERATION GAP AND DEMARYIUS THOMAS; What of age gaps in college football? And how good can Georgia Tech's WR be?, ESPN The Magazine, October 28, 2008.
7. ^ http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/draft/position_rankings?position=WR
8. ^ http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/010810aab.html

External links

• Jonathan Heeter, Former rivals enjoying their time as teammates, The Macon Telegraph, November 18, 2007.

Persondata
Name	Thomas, Demaryius
Alternative names
Short description	American football wide receiver
Date of birth	December 25, 1987
Place of birth	Montrose, Georgia
Date of death
Place of death