Jaguars have a huge star in rookie WR Brian Thomas Jr.

By Hays Carlyon

The New York Jets knew they had to stop Jaguars rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr.

Christian Kirk, Evan Engram and Gabe Davis are all out of the season. Of the Jaguars’ four top receiving threats entering the season, only the rookie remains.

Surely, a good defense like the Jets (fourth in yards allowed entering the game) would put enough resources into stopping Thomas that Jaguars quarterback Mac Jones would have to look elsewhere.

Nope. The Jets had no answers for stopping the rookie sensation.

Thomas caught 10 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns in Sunday’s 32-25 loss to the Jets at EverBank Stadium. The catches and touchdowns were season highs.

The 22-year-old Thomas was the only proven pass catcher the Jaguars had in their arsenal and a good defense fully aware of that couldn’t slow him down. Thomas was also catching passes from Jones, the backup to injured starter Trevor Lawrence.

That’s superstar stuff.

“You just see a top receiver in this league,” Jaguars coach Doug Pederson said. “He’s a good, young receiver that’s going to continue to get better. And as we get Trevor back and all that kind of stuff, it’s a good combination to build around. … He’s had a heck of a season for a rookie receiver, and not only here in Jacksonville, but in the NFL.”

Thomas is having the best season in a talented rookie class. He was the fourth receiver selected with the 23^rd-overall pick, behind Arizona’s Marvin Harrison Jr. (fourth overall), the New York Giants’ Malik Nabers (sixth overall) and Chicago’s Rome Odunze (ninth overall).

Thomas’ numbers exceed them all.

Thomas: 64 catches for 956 yards (14.9-yard average) and eight touchdowns.

Harrison: 47 catches for 687 yards (14.6-yard average) and seven touchdowns.

Nabers: 90 catches for 901 yards (10-yard average) and four touchdowns.

Odunze: 45 catches for 585 yards (13-yard average) and three touchdowns.

Against the Jets, Thomas’ play-making ability was on full display on both touchdowns. One he caught he in the end zone for a 3-yard score and the other was a brilliant slant route that produced a 19-yard touchdown.

“The first one, it was in a three-by-one formation,” Thomas said. “Had a little over-route, the safety ended up coming down, driving on the tight end, so I was able to pop open. The second one, I had a choice route and I was able to cross my defender’s face and break his leverage. I caught it and I just saw it was wide open so I ran it to the end zone.”

Thomas’ rookie campaign is starting to stack up well against some of the elite receivers in the league. Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson, Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and Dallas’ CeeDee Lamb all entered the league with a splash and have never slowed down.

Let’s look at their rookie seasons.

Chase caught 81 passes for 1,455 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Jefferson caught 88 passes for 1,400 yards and seven touchdowns.

Lamb had 74 catches for 935 yards and five touchdowns.

Thomas, with three games to play, already has more yards than Lamb and more touchdowns than Jefferson. On his current pace, Thomas will finish the season with 1,160 yards.

But if the Jets couldn’t contain him, what chance do the remaining three opponents: the Raiders, Titans and Colts have now that the Jaguars are finally force-feeding Thomas targets?

Those three players haven’t slowed down. They are the top three leaders this season in receiving yards in the NFL.

Entering Monday Night Football, Thomas is eighth in the NFL in receiving yards and is tied for fifth in receiving touchdowns.

Thomas reminds me of a younger version of Jets star Davante Adams, who outshined the rookie on Sunday. The 31-year-old Adams caught nine passes for 198 yards and two touchdowns. Adams has 11,641 career receiving yards and 101 receiving touchdowns. His rookie season back in 2014? Adams caught 38 passes for 446 yards and three touchdowns.

The Jaguars are 3-11. The season has been a disaster and sweeping changes to the front office and coaching staff should be coming from owner Shad Khan.

There isn’t much to cheer about but we all are excited to watch three more games of Thomas this season.

He did what a star does in this league on Sunday.

The opponent knows I’m going to be the primary weapon and no matter what they try, they can’t stop me. I won’t let them.

Brilliant.

(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter/X @HaysCarlyon)