Former Indiana tight end Ian Thomas is headed to the NFL.
The Carolina Panthers Saturday afternoon chose Thomas in the 4th round with the 101st overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
It marks the first time an IU tight end has been drafted since 2014, when Ted Bolser was a seventh-round selection of the Washington Redskins. Thomas is the highest-drafted tight end in IU program history and the first former Hoosier to be selected by the Carolina Panthers.
“Only a one-year starter but he’s got athletic traits and upside, very physical run after the catch, he can bend in the run game, I think he’s very raw but teams are intrigued by his upside,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said
Thomas ranked second among Big Ten tight ends with 15.0 yards per reception (fourth nationally, 11th overall in the Big Ten), tied for third with five receiving touchdowns (tied for 12th nationally), and was fourth in receiving yardage (37.6) and catches per game (2.5) in 2017, his final season as a Hoosier.
He also shined at the NFL Scouting Combine, with his 40-yard dash time of 4.74 seconds tied for the fifth-fastest time among 13 participating tight ends, while his vertical jump of 36 inches, broad jump of 123 inches and 3 cone drill time of 7.15 seconds ranked third-highest, second-highest and tied for sixth-fastest respectively among 13 participating tight ends in each of those three drills. He missed the top five in the 3 cone drill by 0.02 seconds.
Thomas ran the 20 Yard Shuttle in 4.20 seconds, tied for the second-fastest time among 13 participating tight ends at the combine. NFL.com recognized Thomas as a top performer in the 40-yard dash, vertical jump, broad jump and 20-yard shuttle as a result.
“He looks like Antonio Gates …. Just look at him move around and run the way his body is built, movement wise you see a lot of those similar things you saw from Antonio Gates,” NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah said. “There’s more ahead of him, he’s got some development ahead of him, but athletically man this is a guy I would love to work with if you’re a team looking for a tight end.”
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