44Champs

Michael Thomas*was the sixth wide receiver selected in the 2016*NFL Draft, but the No. 47 overall pick is in the midst of a potentially historic first-year campaign.

The*Saints*target leads all NFL rookies in receptions (47), receiving yards (573) and touchdown catches (5). In fact, he has nine more catches than the four wideouts (Corey Coleman,*Josh Doctson,*Will Fuller*and Laquon Treadwell) selected in the first round of 2016 draft combined heading into Thursday.



Michael Thomas posting Beckham-like rookie numbers - NFL.com

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darstep

Players shouldn't read their own press.

dizzle88

He needs to realise when to stop fighting for yards, that led to the second fumble.

This is the first time since 2013 that a wide receiver has single handedly lost a game for us, since Nick Toon vs Jets in 2013 when he kept batting brees' passes to defenders.

MatthewT

Hopefully, that will be the one bad game Thomas has this year, and that he is over it already.

hagan714

hold on to the ball lol

neugey

The fumbles are correctable. He just needs to limit the use of the stiff arm over the middle and protect the ball with both hands. Needs to get better at getting separation against physical defenders. This is a bad game that can be used as a springboard to get better.

Crusader

Exactly my thought. This game was his "Hey rookie!" moment.

burningmetal

He's having a good year, but he's a long way from doing what Beckham did as a rookie. Beckham missed the first four games that year and still ended up with 1300 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Thomas is more solid than explosive. He pretty much plays like his uncle did, only he didn't write a book telling the QB to throw him the football. Those fumbles were due to poor ball handling. He didn't take vicious hits, he just holds the ball in a very awkward way. When you don't have two hands on the ball you better have your entire arm clamped around it, tucking it as close to your armpit as you can get it. He didn't do any of that. That's what made it more annoying for me. He didn't learn his lesson after the first one.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, the NFL would fine and suspend me.

K Major

MT had a few critical mistakes. The second fumble was simply bad awareness of pursuit from defenders behind him. Not all that uncommon. Remember Snead IV had a similar issue last season.

Trust me, he will learn. Too talented of a player & high discipline.

burningmetal

I'm sure he'll learn. Or I hope so. I just think there are certain things you should already know by the time you get to the NFL. Often I think that rookies are treated like babies learning to walk. The NFL is obviously a huge step in competition, but the basics should be drilled in your brain. Ball security is a matter of self discipline. Always assume someone is going to try to punch the ball out, because they WILL try.

I'm not going to label Thomas as a chronic fumbler unless he continues to make the same mistake. I would expect it will be in the forefront of his mind to tuck that ball away immediately now.

If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, the NFL would fine and suspend me.