Michael Thomas

Michael William Thomas Jr.. (born March 3, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football for Ohio State.

Thomas played in 11 games as a true freshman in 2012.

He had three receptions for 22 yards in the 2012 season.

As a sophomore in 2013, Thomas was redshirted.

Thomas entered his redshirt sophomore season in 2014 as a backup, but eventually took over as a starting wide receiver.

He ended the season leading the team in receptions with 54 for 799 yards and nine touchdowns.

In the National Semifinals against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, he had seven receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown in the victory.

In the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship victory over Oregon, he had four receptions for 53 yards.

In the 2015 season, he had 56 receptions for 781 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns.

His 104 receptions finished third in the NFL, and his 196 receptions in his first two seasons in the league were the most in NFL history, passing Jarvis Landry's 194 set in 2015.

On January 5, 2016, he announced his intention to enter the 2016 NFL Draft.

Thomas was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the second round with the 47th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

He was the sixth wide receiver to be selected that year.

On May 9, 2016, the Saints signed Thomas to a four-year, $5.11 million contract with $2.60 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.92 million.

The Saints named Thomas one of their starting wide receivers, along with Brandin Cooks, for the season opener against the Oakland Raiders.

He finished his first NFL start with six receptions for 58 yards.

On September 26, 2016, he caught his first NFL touchdown on a three-yard pass from Drew Brees during the second quarter of a Monday Night Football matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.

Thomas finished the 45–32 loss with seven catches for 71 yards and a touchdown.

On October 23, 2016, he had his first game with over 100 receiving yards after he finished with a season-high ten receptions for 130 yards in a 21–27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

During a Week 9 road game against the San Francisco 49ers, Thomas caught two touchdowns and made five catches for 73 yards, as the Saints routed the 49ers by a score of 41–23.

On November 27, Thomas caught nine passes for 108 yards and tied his season-high of two touchdown receptions in a 49–21 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

In the regular season finale against the Falcons, he had 10 receptions for 156 yards and a touchdown in the 38–32 loss.

During his rookie season, Thomas set franchise records for a rookie in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns.

In his second season, Thomas came into the year as the Saints' number one receiver after Brandin Cooks was traded to the New England Patriots.

He was named to his first Pro Bowl.

He finished the season with 104 receptions for 1,245 yards and five touchdowns.

He earned a Pro Bowl nomination for his 2017 season.

He led the league in receptions in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons, while also leading the league in yardage in the 2019 season.

Thomas appeared in his first career playoff game on January 7, 2018, against the division rival Carolina Panthers in the Wild Card Round.

He recorded eight receptions for 131 yards in the 31–26 win.

In the Divisional Round against the Minnesota Vikings, he had seven receptions for 85 yards and two touchdowns in the 29–24 loss.

Thomas was ranked 81st by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.

Thomas holds the record for the most receptions by a player in a single season with 149 in 2019.

He was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 2019.

Thomas attended Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California.

As a senior, he had 86 receptions for a state-leading 1,656 yards and 21 touchdowns for the Toreadors football team.

Thomas was ranked by Rivals.com as a four-star recruit.

He committed to Ohio State University to play college football.

Thomas attended Fork Union Military Academy for a year after high school and was roommates with fellow Ohio State teammate Cardale Jones.