Carolina Panthers: Final four games crucial for rookie Ian Thomas

Thomas needs to make the most of the opportunities he receives in the final games of the season.

It is not that Carolina Panthers rookie tight end Ian Thomas had a bad season by any means. As a matter of fact, his numbers were respectable given where he was drafted and the person he had to play behind in veteran Greg Olsen. Thomas caught 10 passes for 72 yards, not enough to warrant him a superstar label in his opening season, but enough to realize that there is some talent there.

Even still, he had some-dare I say it-rookie mistakes. Against the Atlanta Falcons in the second game of the season, he dropped a pass that would have been a touchdown. Against the New York Giants, he was the cause of Cam Newton throwing two interceptions, as the tight end ran his routes incorrectly. In the grand scheme of things and what that matters to the development of Thomas, those are minute. Thomas has also done some really great things, and Sunday showed a bit of what the future may look like.

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Thomas caught five passes for 46 yards, and a 20-yard catch was his longest of the afternoon. If the instances mentioned above were blunders in the Indiana product’s early career, Sunday was certainly a highlight. A performance like the one on Sunday was probably what the Panthers envisioned when the team drafted him. He was a very successful tight end at Indiana, and he has shown glimpses of being able to be successful at the professional level. Head coach Ron Rivera said that Thomas has progressed nicely as the season has gone on.

"“Here’s a guy that hasn’t gotten a lot of game reps since Greg’s been back, and he came in and played pretty well,” said Rivera. “(He) made a couple mental (errors), but for the most part he came in and handled it very nicely. I thought he was ready to play, I thought he played fast, I thought when he got his opportunities he stepped up. As I said, he made a couple mistakes, but yet here’s a guy that didn’t get a lot of opportunities for a long time.”‘Watching him in practice today, he’s moving very well. I’m pretty excited for him, to see his growth as it continues.”"

In my estimation, these last couple of games could be a huge breakthrough for Thomas. He has not gotten a lot of reps as Rivera said and now with Olsen out, that may change. These last four games will be a nice test to see what he can do on a consistent basis. Even though he is not the starter at tight end, he should see more playing time than he did prior to the injury of Olsen. It is hard getting any action when you have to play behind a Pro Bowler As far as potential growth as a football player, I would look for that more in the 2019 campaign. He should focus the end of the season on continuing to get adjusted to the professional game.

With Olsen’s body unfortunately giving out on him, I would expect to see Thomas getting a bigger role in 2019. Whether that be as a full-time starter or sharing reps with current starter Chris Manhertz remains to be seen. I truly don’t think that Olsen will see starting reps next season if he decides to play. The tight end position could belong to Thomas whether Olsen comes back or not. That should set up Thomas for a breakout 2019 season. He has the skill and athleticism to be able to make an impact quickly, and one of his better skills is his pass-blocking ability. Per statistics from Pro football Focus, Thomas has a pass block rating of 75.9 this season. His 45.9 offensive rating is something that he definitely needs to improve on in the coming season.

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For now though, these last four games are huge for Thomas. They can be building blocks to help him become the breakout tight end he has the potential to be. Some may say that he is a bust given his performance so far this year but for a fourth-round pick, he is certainly a bargain. His worth will truly show in just a matter of time.

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