Hey all!
I need moneys in the worst way right now and am going to be reviewing more stuff as time goes on, namely doing multiple articles and such on wide receivers and rookies in both the upcoming NSFL and DSFL drafts if possible so I can try and really get into the position of being an NSFL wide receiver.
So first,
I was going to talk about my own player who was drafted second overall in the Season 19 NSFL draft as a quarterback but ended up transitioning to play wide receiver in the NSFL when the San Jose Sabercats were needing a guy to come in and help Dan Wright go from Tight End to Quarterback and make that difficult transition.
So far, not so good for Thomas-Fox but to be fair, he has been learning the position on the fly as a lifetime QB, he is new to being a pass catcher and running routes is something that definitely needs to be worked on and that takes a lot of practice.
Thomas-Fox always had the speed and running ability even with his days at quarterback and was known for being a run first guy coming out of Georgia Tech and their former triple option offense. He had a big arm however and was able to both run for a lot of yards and make some big completions in his time in college. It was a difficult transition as he had to learn being a more traditional passer at Myrtle Beach and his full set of skills was not truly utilized in their best ability as a run-heavy pistol or spread attack would be more suited for Deondre rather than the former Air Raid offense that the Bucs were trying back then in Season 18. He ended up throwing 15 inteceptions on the season to just 13 touchdown passes, though he did lead all quarterbacks in rushing with 407 yards through the ground and a few scores there as well.
He had to go from learning a whole new way how to play the quarterback position to having to learn a whole new position in general with a swap to wide receiver. Fortunately, for Thomas-Fox, he has the natural talent to be an NSFL player and was given the chance to prove that as a 2nd overall pick. Some would say that maybe it was a reach with other successful players on the board but heading into his best years, we could see a whole other side of Thomas-Fox now that he knows the position a bit better than he originally did. He is fast, he can catch a hell of a lot better now, and he can run routes. He is smart as well and despite not having the best strength stamina, still has room to work on that as well. We won't ever see Deondre Thomas-Fox in the backfield again but we should start seeing the football player Thomas-Fox be one of the more successful players in the league.
Let's look at his three seasons so far shall we?
Thomas came into his rookie season learning a whole new position and at times, he looked a bit lost on the field and it was clear that there was a lot of room for him to grow. The good thing however was that Thomas-Fox was able to be used in multiple ways on the field as the Sabercats really wanted to get such a dangerous weapon the ball, even if he could not run a route to save his life. He was able to carve in some time as a return man on a few kick returns in addition to running routes which helped his overall effectiveness on the field, even in a limited fashion. Thomas-Fox finished 3rd on the Cats in catches behind Action Jackson and Cameron Olsen with 35 receptions on the season and he amassed 413 yards through the air as well, also 3rd on the team. He also finished with a poor 3 touchdowns on the season as well but was not too bad given he only had 35 catches. Where Thomas-Fox mostly shined was in the kick return game as San Jose Sabercats gave up a lot of scores so they had a lot of kick return opportunities. Thomas-Fox led the team with 41 kick returns on the season and had 863 kick return yards, more than doubling the receiving yards he had through the air playing on offense as a wide receiver. That part of the game was a little better transition as it was much easier to catch the kickoffs and run with a lot of open space.
Year 2, Thomas-Fox improved his physical game a lot, bulking up, working his hands and speed and having an overall better frame to play wide receiver in the big leagues. Again, however, he struggled to run routes and struggled to get open despite his good speed so it limited his reception ability, again finishing 3rd on the season behind both Action Jackson and Cameron Olsen again and finished with 38 on the season, up 3 on his rookie season. His physical gains definitely showed however as he has 785 yards on the season, up 372 yards from his rookie year. He actually led the NSFL in yards per catch and he was one of the most dynamic weapons in the receiving game despite his inability to get open a lot of the time. He scored 5 touchdowns through the air, up from 3 in his rookie year and overall had a lot bigger of a role for the team as he grew in his position. His development slowed in general however as he really found in hard playing wide receiver in the league and his route running was just something that did not want to come into fruition. Again, Thomas-Fox was featured as a return man again but had less involvement this year with Trey Staley stealing most of the thunder on that part of the game. Thomas-Fox had just 30 kick returns this time for 559 yards total and no scores. He was solid but not great in returning but the team still felt it wise to get this dynamic play maker the ball.
Year 3, this season that recently came to a close, was another year of progression for the young quarterback turned wide receiver in Thomas-Fox as he was able to gain a bit of skill in his route running abilities. Thomas-Fox broke his previous high of 38 receptions on a season by nearly 20, finishing with 57 catches on the year and finished 2nd on the team, just one ahead of rookie tight end Leon McDavid. He had 757 yards on the year which was a bit strange given his previous season with just 38 catches led to him having 785 yards, 28 more than a year when he had 19 more catches. He was featured as more of a short yardage wide receiver type with his improved route running and improved hands, he was relied to get some of the tough yardage and was not used as a deep threat as much, something that we might see going forward. Again, Thomas-Fox was not a high touchdown guy finishing with just 3 on the season, tying his rookie season and falling short of his Sophomore season where he scored 5 touchdowns by 2. Again, Thomas-Fox was used in the return game and despite being a more athletic and dynamic weapon, finished behind fellow receiver Action Jackson in kick return opportunities with Deondre finishing with 27 to Jackson's 32. Thomas-Fox also was not given chances in the punt return game also despite being much faster than Jackson but we shall see how that is moving forward. Thomas-Fox had the aforementioned 27 kick return chances and converted those into 641 return yards and he had his best average to date.
So far, Thomas-Fox has been a secondary receiver on a team that traditionally has not thrown the ball that much going from dual-threat potential hall of fame quarterback in Joliet L. Christ to tight end turned quarterback Dan Wright. As Wright has progressed, so has the passing game and you can see that with both the yards and reception increase in Thomas-Fox's overall statistics. He has also been generally a secondary return man option as well and has been involved in multiple parts of the game so far in his career. So far in his career he has had a total of 130 catches, good for 43.33 per season. He also has a total of 1,955 receiving yards as well over his 3 seasons which is just 651.66 receiving yards per season. In addition, he has added 11 touchdowns total, just 3.66 per season so overall, he has not had a great effect overall in the passing game for the San Jose Sabercats. In addition to the passing yards however, he has 98 kick return opportunities and 2,063 kick return yards in his career with no scores. On average, he is putting up about 687.66 kick return yards per season on an average of 32.66 kick return chances per season. He has more kick return yards than he has receiving yards right now in his career and so far has 4,018 yards in his overall yardage combining his receiving yardage with his kick return yardage. Hopefully it can flip a bit but Thomas-Fox is at least putting up over 1,300 yards of total yardage per season in his time with San Jose so far. If we add future punt returns to his game, he could amass 1,500 yards easily on the season and eventually 2,000 if he is trusted more in the passing game, something that a lot of players would love to have.
So, what is next?
I debated multiple times whether I would test free agency and at least go off and try and do big things for another team at least for a temporary time. After talks with my San Jose management and coming to an understanding, I have decided that Thomas-Fox will be playing another one or two years in San Jose with a 2-year extension featuring a player option that become a team option in year 2 of the deal if Thomas-Fox has less than 65 catches on the season. I think it is favorable to both sides as I would feel like I was more involved on an offense and if not, have the chance to re-evaluate Thomas-Fox and where he is in his career. If those catches are met, San Jose gets another year or at least a decision on whether Deondre is a player worth keeping or not. If they aren't they can at least know they still have a chance at retaining his services or maybe they would at least know that he is not super important to the offense. It is essentially a prove it deal that will turn into a minimum contract if Thomas-Fox is featured more in the offense, something I think both sides will definitely benefit from. I think the flexibility is a great thing overall for both sides and maybe we see Thomas-Fox end up somewhere else eventually. I know I would be back one day.
With Dan Wright's career coming to an end within the next couple seasons, it will be interesting to see the future of San Jose's offense and how the transition from Wright to Jack will go. While it would be nice to be there for a new rookie QB, just like guys like Flash and Oles were there for me, as a wide receiver, it could be frustrating. I don't know what will happen but I know Thomas-Fox loves being a Sabercat, he just wants to be a little more involved and hopefully lead the team back to the playoffs as an integral part of the team! I 100% plan on retiring as a Sabercat. It is what I know and what I love!
I need moneys in the worst way right now and am going to be reviewing more stuff as time goes on, namely doing multiple articles and such on wide receivers and rookies in both the upcoming NSFL and DSFL drafts if possible so I can try and really get into the position of being an NSFL wide receiver.
So first,
I was going to talk about my own player who was drafted second overall in the Season 19 NSFL draft as a quarterback but ended up transitioning to play wide receiver in the NSFL when the San Jose Sabercats were needing a guy to come in and help Dan Wright go from Tight End to Quarterback and make that difficult transition.
So far, not so good for Thomas-Fox but to be fair, he has been learning the position on the fly as a lifetime QB, he is new to being a pass catcher and running routes is something that definitely needs to be worked on and that takes a lot of practice.
Thomas-Fox always had the speed and running ability even with his days at quarterback and was known for being a run first guy coming out of Georgia Tech and their former triple option offense. He had a big arm however and was able to both run for a lot of yards and make some big completions in his time in college. It was a difficult transition as he had to learn being a more traditional passer at Myrtle Beach and his full set of skills was not truly utilized in their best ability as a run-heavy pistol or spread attack would be more suited for Deondre rather than the former Air Raid offense that the Bucs were trying back then in Season 18. He ended up throwing 15 inteceptions on the season to just 13 touchdown passes, though he did lead all quarterbacks in rushing with 407 yards through the ground and a few scores there as well.
He had to go from learning a whole new way how to play the quarterback position to having to learn a whole new position in general with a swap to wide receiver. Fortunately, for Thomas-Fox, he has the natural talent to be an NSFL player and was given the chance to prove that as a 2nd overall pick. Some would say that maybe it was a reach with other successful players on the board but heading into his best years, we could see a whole other side of Thomas-Fox now that he knows the position a bit better than he originally did. He is fast, he can catch a hell of a lot better now, and he can run routes. He is smart as well and despite not having the best strength stamina, still has room to work on that as well. We won't ever see Deondre Thomas-Fox in the backfield again but we should start seeing the football player Thomas-Fox be one of the more successful players in the league.
Let's look at his three seasons so far shall we?
Thomas came into his rookie season learning a whole new position and at times, he looked a bit lost on the field and it was clear that there was a lot of room for him to grow. The good thing however was that Thomas-Fox was able to be used in multiple ways on the field as the Sabercats really wanted to get such a dangerous weapon the ball, even if he could not run a route to save his life. He was able to carve in some time as a return man on a few kick returns in addition to running routes which helped his overall effectiveness on the field, even in a limited fashion. Thomas-Fox finished 3rd on the Cats in catches behind Action Jackson and Cameron Olsen with 35 receptions on the season and he amassed 413 yards through the air as well, also 3rd on the team. He also finished with a poor 3 touchdowns on the season as well but was not too bad given he only had 35 catches. Where Thomas-Fox mostly shined was in the kick return game as San Jose Sabercats gave up a lot of scores so they had a lot of kick return opportunities. Thomas-Fox led the team with 41 kick returns on the season and had 863 kick return yards, more than doubling the receiving yards he had through the air playing on offense as a wide receiver. That part of the game was a little better transition as it was much easier to catch the kickoffs and run with a lot of open space.
Year 2, Thomas-Fox improved his physical game a lot, bulking up, working his hands and speed and having an overall better frame to play wide receiver in the big leagues. Again, however, he struggled to run routes and struggled to get open despite his good speed so it limited his reception ability, again finishing 3rd on the season behind both Action Jackson and Cameron Olsen again and finished with 38 on the season, up 3 on his rookie season. His physical gains definitely showed however as he has 785 yards on the season, up 372 yards from his rookie year. He actually led the NSFL in yards per catch and he was one of the most dynamic weapons in the receiving game despite his inability to get open a lot of the time. He scored 5 touchdowns through the air, up from 3 in his rookie year and overall had a lot bigger of a role for the team as he grew in his position. His development slowed in general however as he really found in hard playing wide receiver in the league and his route running was just something that did not want to come into fruition. Again, Thomas-Fox was featured as a return man again but had less involvement this year with Trey Staley stealing most of the thunder on that part of the game. Thomas-Fox had just 30 kick returns this time for 559 yards total and no scores. He was solid but not great in returning but the team still felt it wise to get this dynamic play maker the ball.
Year 3, this season that recently came to a close, was another year of progression for the young quarterback turned wide receiver in Thomas-Fox as he was able to gain a bit of skill in his route running abilities. Thomas-Fox broke his previous high of 38 receptions on a season by nearly 20, finishing with 57 catches on the year and finished 2nd on the team, just one ahead of rookie tight end Leon McDavid. He had 757 yards on the year which was a bit strange given his previous season with just 38 catches led to him having 785 yards, 28 more than a year when he had 19 more catches. He was featured as more of a short yardage wide receiver type with his improved route running and improved hands, he was relied to get some of the tough yardage and was not used as a deep threat as much, something that we might see going forward. Again, Thomas-Fox was not a high touchdown guy finishing with just 3 on the season, tying his rookie season and falling short of his Sophomore season where he scored 5 touchdowns by 2. Again, Thomas-Fox was used in the return game and despite being a more athletic and dynamic weapon, finished behind fellow receiver Action Jackson in kick return opportunities with Deondre finishing with 27 to Jackson's 32. Thomas-Fox also was not given chances in the punt return game also despite being much faster than Jackson but we shall see how that is moving forward. Thomas-Fox had the aforementioned 27 kick return chances and converted those into 641 return yards and he had his best average to date.
So far, Thomas-Fox has been a secondary receiver on a team that traditionally has not thrown the ball that much going from dual-threat potential hall of fame quarterback in Joliet L. Christ to tight end turned quarterback Dan Wright. As Wright has progressed, so has the passing game and you can see that with both the yards and reception increase in Thomas-Fox's overall statistics. He has also been generally a secondary return man option as well and has been involved in multiple parts of the game so far in his career. So far in his career he has had a total of 130 catches, good for 43.33 per season. He also has a total of 1,955 receiving yards as well over his 3 seasons which is just 651.66 receiving yards per season. In addition, he has added 11 touchdowns total, just 3.66 per season so overall, he has not had a great effect overall in the passing game for the San Jose Sabercats. In addition to the passing yards however, he has 98 kick return opportunities and 2,063 kick return yards in his career with no scores. On average, he is putting up about 687.66 kick return yards per season on an average of 32.66 kick return chances per season. He has more kick return yards than he has receiving yards right now in his career and so far has 4,018 yards in his overall yardage combining his receiving yardage with his kick return yardage. Hopefully it can flip a bit but Thomas-Fox is at least putting up over 1,300 yards of total yardage per season in his time with San Jose so far. If we add future punt returns to his game, he could amass 1,500 yards easily on the season and eventually 2,000 if he is trusted more in the passing game, something that a lot of players would love to have.
So, what is next?
I debated multiple times whether I would test free agency and at least go off and try and do big things for another team at least for a temporary time. After talks with my San Jose management and coming to an understanding, I have decided that Thomas-Fox will be playing another one or two years in San Jose with a 2-year extension featuring a player option that become a team option in year 2 of the deal if Thomas-Fox has less than 65 catches on the season. I think it is favorable to both sides as I would feel like I was more involved on an offense and if not, have the chance to re-evaluate Thomas-Fox and where he is in his career. If those catches are met, San Jose gets another year or at least a decision on whether Deondre is a player worth keeping or not. If they aren't they can at least know they still have a chance at retaining his services or maybe they would at least know that he is not super important to the offense. It is essentially a prove it deal that will turn into a minimum contract if Thomas-Fox is featured more in the offense, something I think both sides will definitely benefit from. I think the flexibility is a great thing overall for both sides and maybe we see Thomas-Fox end up somewhere else eventually. I know I would be back one day.
With Dan Wright's career coming to an end within the next couple seasons, it will be interesting to see the future of San Jose's offense and how the transition from Wright to Jack will go. While it would be nice to be there for a new rookie QB, just like guys like Flash and Oles were there for me, as a wide receiver, it could be frustrating. I don't know what will happen but I know Thomas-Fox loves being a Sabercat, he just wants to be a little more involved and hopefully lead the team back to the playoffs as an integral part of the team! I 100% plan on retiring as a Sabercat. It is what I know and what I love!
Former players:
QB Joliet Christ Jr. (HON/BER) (1x Ultimus Champ)
WR Deondre Thomas-Fox (SJS) (2x Ultimus Champ)
QB Joliet L. Christ (SJS) (Hall of Fame) (1x Ultimus Champ)