Pro Day Another Milestone In Tight End Ian Thomas' Football Journey
For former Indiana tight end Ian Thomas, Tuesday's pro day in Bloomington marked another major milestone in his football journey.
Not many college players get the chance to move on to the NFL. Then again, not many have likely experienced what Thomas has to even get to this point.
"(I think about it) all the time. It's just a blessing," Thomas said. "Just defying the odds as I go."
Indeed, the odds seemed stacked against Thomas from an early age.
He experienced heartbreaking tragedy has a child when both of his parents died before he turned 10 years old. His mother passed away due to complications from an abscessed tooth on his eighth birthday, then he lost his father to a heart attack one year later, according to an NFL Scouting Combine story by Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post.
Two years later, according to the same story, Thomas' mother left him at a foster home. At age 12, an uncle was prepared to drop him and his eight siblings off in foster care until an older brother stepped in and became their legal guardian in order to raise them.
Once Thomas got to high school, it proved a bright spot for him. He flourished at Baltimore (Md.) Digital Harbor as a three-year football letterwinner who was named the team's most valuable player and most improved player, and he also lettered in basketball and track and field.
After high school, he spent two years at Garden City (N.Y.) Nassau Community College where he was an all-conference selection as a sophomore after catching 23 balls for 433 yards and three touchdowns in eight games in 2015. ESPN rated him as the No. 2 junior college tight end as well.
"He was a unique situation coming from junior college, and his high school years allowed him to not be maybe as developed as some guys are," IU head coach Tom Allen said at Indiana's Pro Day Tuesday. "He's one of those unique guys, where, talking to NFL scouts, they feel like he has so much upside."
Thomas had just three catches for 28 yards in his first season in Bloomington, but had the chance to show that potential Allen talked about with the arrival of IU offensive coordinator Mike DeBord in his second and final season.
As a senior, 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).
His performance earned him an invite to the Reese's Senior Bowl in January, which he said was a very valuable experience for him.
"We got to do something different other than up-tempo offense, got to slow it down to like a pro-style offense," Thomas said. "I got to do a lot of routes I didn’t get to do here, so a lot of coaches could see much more of what I could do."
Two months later, Thomas shined at the NFL Scouting Combine. His 40-yard dash time of 4.74 seconds was 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 also 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.
Since he performed so well at the combine, Thomas saw no need to participate in those same drills at Indiana's Pro Day. However, he made sure to work with former Indiana quarterback Richard Lagow during quarterback-receiver drills to showcase his speed, route-running skills and blocking skills. Thomas said the main feedback he's received from teams is that they like his character and how he's a complete tight end.
Thomas had a workout scheduled for this morning and will be visiting the Jacksonville Jaguars next week. From there, he'll be figuring out his plans for watching the NFL Draft, which he said he'll most likely be doing with family.
After spending two minutes reflecting on pro day and his college career with assembled media, Thomas knows one thing:
His story is not done.
"All I just think is it's not over yet," Thomas said. "Got to keep pushing."
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