Legend? Wait For It.

Former Tech Demaryius Thomas announced his retirement yesterday. He cobbled together a decent NFL career, but I was never a fan.

At Tech he was often wide open in Paul Johnson’s run-first offense, though the Jackets’ option QB’s struggled to get Thomas the ball. But when they did, Thomas was known to drop passes, in all three of his seasons on the Flats. Despite the drops, his height and speed made his potential attractive to NFL scouts. Thomas jumped ship just ahead of the NCAA police, who placed Tech on probation because of his misdeeds.

In Denver Thomas continued to be characterized by dropped passes.  Peyton Manning came along and willed Thomas into a better receiver, though Thomas continued to be plagued by the drops – 37 while Manning was his QB. Thomas dropped 57 balls in seven years, including six in eight 2018 games. The Broncos had seen enough...

...it was clear to see he has a problem with dropping the football. Over his eight-year career, Thomas has a catch percentage of 60.8 percent, which is No. 247th over that time frame. That’s to say, of 10 passes thrown his way, six are caught. Not all of those are due to drops, of course. But, this year he has three drops, and he had seven in each of the last two seasons, putting him in the top-three in the NFL.

Desperate for NFL connections, GT responded to the retirement announcement, proclaiming Thomas a “legend.” A Tech fan agreed with the legend designation, dubbing Thomas “the most insanely dominant WR in CFB history” and considered Thomas’ GT career superior to Calvin Johnson. Its unknowledgeable fans like him that give Tech a bad name.

Thomas made the freshman All-American team, made All-ACC one year, and got Tech put on probation. If that makes Thomas a legend, what do you call Calvin Johnson, a 2-time All-America, 3-time 1st team All-ACC, ACC rookie of the year, ACC player of the year, Biletnikoff Award winner, and NFL All-Decade Team member?

Perhaps I’m old school, but words like “legend” and “dominant” are tossed around way to frequently these days. I’m not sure every Heisman Trophy winner can be considered a legend, much less a receiver known to drop passes. Thomas may have been a contributor on an ACC championship team, but he was not the dominant factor, carrying the team on his back.

Receivers are dependent on several factors for their success: offensive scheme, a good QB, good blockers. During Paul Johnson’s term Tech receivers received scant attention from opposing defenses. Thomas was wide open most of the time. Calvin Johnson was the focus of the Tech offense, always double teamed and often triple-teamed – yet at Tech Calvin caught more passes for more yards and more touchdowns (in fewer games) than the legendary "Bae Bae".

rec.yards.TD

120 2339 15 Thomas

178 2927 28 Johnson

Similarly, in the NFL Thomas was one cog on a perennial playoff team, while for much of his career Calvin was the focus of the Detroit offense, setting NFL records despite the double and triple team coverage.

.yr..G...rec…yards..avg.TD.1dwn.AllPro

10 143 724 09763 13.5 63   459     0  DT

09 135 721 11619 15.9 83   552     3  CJ

The word "legend" is defined as “a traditional story sometimes regarded as historical but unauthenticated” and “an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a particular field”, and “very well known.” A synonym for legend is “myth,” Perhaps Thomas is indeed a legend.

https://broncoswire.usatoday.com/2021/01/02/denver-broncos-demaryius-thomas-struggled-with-drops-during-his-career/

https://www.coloradoan.com/story/sports/nfl/broncos/2014/09/14/demaryius-thomas-putting-drops-behind/15619499/

https://www.ajc.com/sports/demaryius-thomas-peyton-manning-georgia-tech/oIBCM5huPRFGWkGaMgth1I/