Trevor Lawrence's effusive praise of Brian Thomas Jr. will get Jaguars fans hyped up

Wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. Thomas has wasted no time making an impact for the Jacksonville Jaguars this season. A first-round pick in 2024, the former LSU Tiger has been a bright spot during the team's four-game losing streak. But as impressive as he's been, Trevor Lawrence believes that he's just beginning to scratch the surface of his talent.

Lawrence met with the local media ahead of the Week 5 matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. Besides sharing his thoughts on whether head coach Doug Pederson has lost the locker room, he talked about Thomas Jr.'s impact and how much better he'll get as the season progresses.

"Great job, he's been prepared. He's known the plan," Lawrence said. "His skill set and talents you see him every week, and his ability to do everything that we need him to do: win down the field, get open, create separation. And he's done a great job all season. So I thought Sunday was one of his best games, and should have been even bigger."

Lawrence continued, "We had some more opportunities down the field that we're going to connect on in the future. So it's exciting watching him play and just seeing how much better he's gotten through the first four games. He's still so young. I think 21-22, I don't know when his birthday is, but so it's going to be fun to see him just keep getting better."

Later in the exchange, Lawrence said that Thomas is a fiery competitor, pointing out that the rookie wideout is introverted off the field but will come alive on game day.

"[He] shows up in plays, like he makes the plays that come to him. Like we've said the whole time, [he] doesn't talk too much, he's kind of a quiet, quieter guy. But then on the field, he just comes alive. You see some of that spark and some of that competitiveness when he makes plays. You see that celebrating or whatever is, and he'll let the DB know about it. So it's cool to watch the quarterback and see a guy that's fired up to play and loves the game."

This season, Thomas has hauled in 17 receptions for 275 yards with two touchdowns. As John Shipley of Sports Illustrated points out, he's second in catches, and first in yards, yards per route, yards per reception, and success rate among rookie receivers.

Here's Lawrence exchange with the local media. His comments on Thomas start at the 1:58 mark.

The Jaguars have a keeper in Brian Thomas Jr.

Even though he was projected to go in the first round, Brian Thomas Jr. wasn't as highly regarded as the big 3: Rome Odunze, Malik Nabers, and Marvin Harrison Jr. However, analysts are quickly changing their tune about the Louisiana native.

Justin Melo of The Draft Network says that Thomas has proven to be more than a one-trick pony, noting that the rookie receiver has been a terrific three-level route runner. On the other hand, Sam Monson of Check the Mic has accepted that he was wrong about him.

Four games into the season, the Jaguars are 30th in the league in points scored and 28th in passing yards. The offense is dealing with several problems, ranging from lack of creativity, inconsistency, drops, and bad throws, but it's fair to say that Thomas hasn't been part of the problem.

In the end, if Jacksonville manages to turn things around, it will be partly because Thomas keeps making plays.

More Jaguars analysis here: