Can Oklahoma WR Elijah Thomas Turn Special Teams Production Into Opportunities on Offense?

The true freshman receiver has become a key piece on the Sooners' kick coverage teams, but he's yet to earn significant snaps for Ben Arbuckle's offense.

Oklahoma receiver Elijah Thomas (14) celebrates a play on special teams against Michigan. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

NORMAN — Freshman Elijah Thomas has yet to get a real chance to make a difference for OU’s offense. 

The Checotah, OK, product drew rave reviews from the coaching staff throughout spring practice and fall camp, but he’s primarily been used on special teams. 

Through six games, he’s played 99 snaps on special teams per Pro Football Focus, but he’s only gotten onto the field for 30 offensive snaps, all of which came against Kent State and Temple. 

“He plays a million miles an hour,” OU special teams coordinator Doug Deakin said on Thursday. 

Oklahoma receiver Elijah Thomas (14) celebrates a big special teams play in the Sooners' win over Michigan. | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Thomas has played the second-most snaps on special teams, only trailing defensive back Michael Boganowski’s 101 snaps. 

Brent Venables and his assistants stress the importance of being willing to make an impact on special teams even if a player isn’t getting a ton of playing time on offense or defense. 

The true freshman has produced. Thomas has four total tackles, and he has the attention of everyone on the sideline any time he’s on a kick coverage team. 

“Every time I watch special teams, I’m just looking for where he is,” Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle said. “Because he flies down the field, he’s on assignment, he’s excited to be out there, and he makes plays. That’s a credit to him, and that’s a credit to Coach Deakin, putting him position to be successful.”

Deakin has loved working with Thomas. 

“As a special team coordinator, especially on like coverage units, you're always going to elect to play defensive guys, because that's what they're doing every day is tackling in the open space,” Deakin said. “But boy, from day one that Elijah stepped foot on campus, it was evident through drill work. He put in the effort in practice and he is one of the finer — you're noticing on Saturdays, covering down on kickoff, covering on punt, and he's been on all four (kickoff or punt units). I mean, talk about a guy that has really embraced it and just excelled and overdelivered.”

Still, Thomas hopes to get a chance to make his mark on offense. 

At Checotah High School, he caught 72 passes for 1,803 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior. He also ran 63 times for 406 yards and 10 scores, and he took a kickoff 99 yards to the house. 

So far, he’s only caught one pass for five yards, though he drew a pass interference penalty against Temple after he quickly beat his defensive back late in that road win. 

Oklahoma receiver Elijah Thomas makes a catch near the pylon during a fall camp practice. | NATHAN J. FISH/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Thomas isn’t the only guy who has struggled to break into the rotation set by Arbuckle and receivers coach Emmett Jones. 

Deion Burks, Isaiah Sategna and Keontez Lewis have all played at least 273 offensive snaps per PFF. No other receiver has played more than Ivan Carreon’s 66 snaps behind that trio. 

OU has leaned on its veterans, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff receiver Javonnie Gibson will take a large share of the available snaps remaining now that he’s back from his leg injury. 

“I do have a lot of receivers in that room that I do trust,” Arbuckle said. “Guys that have a lot of veteran experience about them.”

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The lack of snaps on offense is not a reflection of the work Thomas puts in every week, Arbuckle said. 

“ET’s a really, really talented kid,” Arbuckle said. “… He’s done great practice. Reps really well in practice. He’s continuously building his football IQ and his knowledge of the playbook. Because at the end of the day, he’s still a young kid out there. A young, young man out there. 

“But he’s a talented kid who’s taken all the right steps to find his way onto the field.”

On Wednesday’s first SEC Availability Report ahead of this week’s contest with South Carolina (11:45 a.m., SEC Network), Lewis was listed as “questionable”. 

That could open up some opportunities for the younger guys in OU’s receiving corps, or it could just lead Arbuckle to divert the normal workload from Lewis to Gibson. 

“That receiver room is deep. A bunch of good kids in there,” Arbuckle said. “And we just got Javonnie back. OK, I gotta get Javonnie going too. And that’s nothing to do with ET. 

“But there’s a lot of guys in that room. He just does a great job of coming to work every day. And I’m really, really proud of the impact that he is having on the game on special teams, and he is an awesome kid to be around.”