Fantasy Football Dynasty Startup Mock Draft: Brian Thomas (Pick 1.09)

The Jacksonville Jaguars 2024 season can be summarized in one word -- disappointment. Fans can add an adjective such as "big" or "great" before "disappointment" for dramatic impact if they want.

But there was nothing disappointing about rookie Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas. He's already proven his fantasy worth after just one season.

Therefore, with the No. 9 selection of a 2025 PPR dynasty startup league draft, I would recommend selecting Thomas.

Pick 1.09: WR Brian Thomas, Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville's tailspin actually began halfway through the 2023 season when Thomas was still at LSU. Over his last 18 starts, quarterback Trevor Lawrence has thrown just 23 touchdowns with 17 interceptions. He's also averaged 7.2 yards per pass with a 61.9% completion percentage.

Lawrence is 4-14 as a starter during that stretch. The quarterback also missed seven games because of injuries in 2024. Backup Mac Jones led the Jaguars to a 2-5 record with eight touchdowns and eight interceptions.

With some long-term uncertainty around Lawrence, it would be easy to right off anyone in the Jaguars offense. But Lawrence's struggles should arguably add fantasy value for Thomas.

The 22-year-old receiver has already proven to not be quarterback dependent. Thomas had more 100-yard receiving performance and the same amount of touchdowns with Jones behind center as Lawrence.

Overall, Thomas posted 87 catches for 1,282 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns as a rookie. He closed the season on a hot streak with Jones behind center. Thomas posted at least 17 fantasy points in PPR formats in each of his final four games last season. He averaged 107.8 receiving yards per game and scored four touchdowns.

The Jaguars have tremendous faith that Lawrence will bounce back. Fantasy managers should at least believe he will be better than he was last season. That should only be good for the Jaguars top playmaker.

Jacksonville has other tremendously talented offensive pieces such as Travis Etienne Jr., Travis Hunter and Brenton Strange. How all of them come together under new offensive-minded head coach Liam Coen is a question mark entering the season.

But Coen's offenses in Tampa Bay excelled last season with their collection of long-time fantasy stars such as Mike Evans and newcomers like Bucky Irving. It's also not as if there shouldn't be plenty of targets to go around in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars parted with Evan Engram, Christian Kirk and Gabe Davis this offseason. Those three pass-catchers combined for 153 targets last season and none of them played more than 10 games.

Together, those three players averaged 5.7 targets per game.

It's hard to envision Thomas' target share increasing because he already had twice as many targets as anyone else in Jacksonville's offense during 2024. But the extra available targets should be reassuring to fantasy managers that Thomas can repeat his 133 targets from last season even with Hunter's arrival.

Additionally, fantasy managers should feel good about any receiver who can average 14.7 yards per reception in a season where Jones is his quarterback half the season.

Thomas is one of the more exciting young players in the NFL. His offense has a long way to go to match his output, but managers should be confident the Jaguars developing offense won't hold him back at all and give him the potential for more in the coming years.

Before Thomas at No. 9 overall, here's the rest of my 2025 dynasty startup mock draft:

No. 1: Cincinnati Bengals' Ja'Marr Chase
No. 2: Minnesota Vikings' Justin Jefferson
No. 3: Dallas Cowboys' CeeDee Lamb
No. 4: Atlanta Falcons' Bijan Robinson
No. 5: New York Giants' Malik Nabers
No. 6: Detroit Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs
No. 7: Detroit Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown
No. 8: Los Angeles Rams' Puka Nacua