Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr. provides a much-needed rebound in Week 14 win against Colts

• Back to field expansion form: Thomas recorded two deep receptions with a PFF grade of 96.3 from deep, which is closer to his 2024 mark.

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

• Receive PFF+ with a 30% discount: Use promotional code HOLIDAY 30 to unlock the PFF Player Prop Tool, Premium Stats, fantasy dashboards, the PFF Mock Draft Simulator, industry-leading fantasy rankings and much more – everything you need to win your season.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Although the Jaguars entered Week 14 atop the AFC South, their season has been quite twisty. The team started 5-4 and reached the heights of beating the Chiefs and 49ers while stifling a lead over the Davis Mills-led Texans and going into overtime with the Raiders.

However, Jacksonville has especially clicked in the last four games, with four of the last four matchups to gain control of the division. As if things could get any better for the Jaguars, rookie sensation Brian Thomas Jr. finally put an end to his sophomore slump.

Against the Colts in Week 14, Thomas looked like his freshman self, earning a season-best 79.4 PFF grade and receiving grade of 87 receiving yards. The LSU product added a stellar 2.81 yards per route – also his best mark in 2025. Although Thomas had just six targets and three catches, all three receptions moved the chains.

Thomas has always been a deep threat since breaking into the NFL in 2024, owning a career average target depth of 12.7 yards. However, Thomas even raised the bar for himself as a field stretcher in Week 14. His aDoT of 25.8 meters was a career best and one of the highest marks in a competition this year.

Highest single-game aDoT for WRs in 2025 (min. 5 targets)

Unsurprisingly, Thomas made the Colts pay on the field. On four attempts of 20 yards or longer, Thomas picked up two of his targets for 69 yards – culminating in a PFF grade of 96.0. Sunday represents form closer to what we saw from Thomas in 2024, when he posted a PFF grade of 96.3 from deep. For context, that same figure was just 75.4 through the first thirteen games of this season.

Crucially for Thomas, he also recorded another zero-drop game, his second in a row. Considering his 16.7% drop rate is the second highest among qualified receivers, that’s a huge step in the right direction.

Taking into account Thomas’ turnaround, the Jaguars played a strong offensive game, especially through the air. The team averaged 0.287 EPA per pass, which is above 70^e percentile for this year – as well as a season-high figure. Plus Trevor Laurens hit six explosive passes en route to a season-best 86.8 PFF grade.

Jakobi Meyers has rightfully been in the spotlight since arriving in Jacksonville in Week 10, posting a PFF grade of 80.1 in that span to steady a shaky receiving corps. But on Sunday, it was Thomas who made the biggest impact in perhaps the team’s most important matchup of 2025.

If the budding star can maintain this level of efficiency without fail, it elevates the Jaguars from AFC South favorites – where they have a 52% chance of winning the division crown – to possible noisemakers in a wide-open AFC.