Michael Thomas caught 125 passes with the New Orleans Saints in 2018, and it would have been reasonable to assume at the time that the number of receptions would go down as the most of any single season in his career. Thomas then went out and dwarfed that total this year.
Coming off a season in which he set an NFL record with a mind-boggling 149 catches, it is safe to say Thomas is currently the best wide receiver in football. But there is perhaps no stat that does a better job of proving how dominant he has been during his professional career than this one:
Michael Thomas ranks fourth in receptions in the NFL since 2015
He was drafted in 2016
— Football Analysis (@FBallAnalysis) January 22, 2020
That’s right, only three players in the NFL have more catches combined over the last five seasons than Thomas, and Thomas was still playing in college for one of those seasons. He has hauled in more passes in the past four years than guys like Larry Fitzgerald, Mike Evans, Keenan Allen, Davante Adams and Odell Beckham Jr. have caught in the last five.
Of course, Thomas has missed just one game in his NFL career while many of the aforementioned players have suffered significant injuries, but it’s still insane. The fact that Thomas has barely ever left the field despite catching 274 passes on 332 targets since the start of 2018 is otherworldly. And to think, this is a guy who had to clap back at critics following a tough game not that long ago.
We’d say Thomas’ will probably never top his 149 receptions from this season, but who are we to doubt him? The former second-round pick simply catches everything that is thrown his way, and the Saints keep throwing to him. There’s no reason to change that approach until someone proves they can slow it down.
