Devin

Thomas

Thomas has been a bust as the former 34th overall pick in the draft, but he made some big special teams plays during the Giants’ Super Bowl run last year. Thomas is still only 25 years old and ran 4.32, 4.34 at the 2008 Scouting Combine at 6-foot-2, 215. We wouldn’t rule out Thomas developing receiver skills, but his early-career track record certainly isn’t promising.

With Johnny Knox ailing, the Bears have addressed receiver in a big way, trading for Brandon Marshall while drafting Alshon Jeffery and signing Thomas and Eric Weems. Sanzenbacher’s familiarity with the Bears’ offense could give him a leg up on Thomas, but Thomas is the far superior athlete and also capable of helping out on returns. Neither player will contribute in fantasy leagues.

Thomas will likely now be a game-day scratch because he doesn’t contribute on offense. The Giants are expected to turn to Da’Rel Scott and D.J. Ware on kickoff returns. Thomas was averaging a mediocre 23.7 yards per return and mishandled one in two of the last three games. Assuming he doesn’t fumble, Scott would be the Giants’ best option with 4.34 speed in the 40-yard dash.

Thomas went down on the final play of the first half. He had to be stabilized and carted off. The good news is that Thomas had movement in his extremities.

It’s a sigh of relief for Thomas. He was down for several minutes after taking a knee to the helmet when tackling Logan Paulsen Sunday. Here’s what Thomas posted on Twitter: “Everyone i appreciate the love and prayers! Thank God im ok. It looks as if it was a stinger. Definately a scary moment.”

Thankfully, Thomas’ scary neck injury was just a stinger. It looked much more severe when he was down for at least five minutes and had to be immobilized before getting carted off. “I’ll say like two minutes before I could really get my motions back,” Thomas said. “It wasn’t severe as I thought it was.”

Thomas fell well short of expectations required for the 34th overall pick in the ’08 draft, but he had carved out a career in recent seasons as a gung-ho special teamer. Apparently tired of doing the dirty work, Thomas calls it quits after 43 receptions, 482 yards, and three TDs over four NFL seasons.

Hester will still be the primary punt returner, but his kickoff-return chores will “depend on how the game is going” and how many touches he’s getting on offense. As usual, we expect Hester’s offensive role to pale in comparison to the coaching staff’s offseason expectations. Eric Weems and Devin Thomas are the primary candidates to return kickoffs.

Thomas announced his retirement from football last August, but has apparently had a change of heart. Although the 34th overall pick in the 2008 draft never panned out as a receiver, Thomas was carving out a career as a special teams gunner before temporarily hanging up the cleats. He didn’t play in 2012.

There’s no word on the severity, but the hamstring is worth tracking to ensure that it doesn’t linger. Thomas is missing out on an opportunity to pick up snaps in the new offense with Santana Moss (knee scope) also sidelined. He’s missed too much practice time the past two seasons, so we’d like to see him back out there ASAP.