Going into the 2023 football season, LSU Wire will be looking at each player listed on the Tigers’ roster.
Over the preseason, each profile will cover where the player is from, how recruiting websites rated them coming out of high school, and what role they will play for Brian Kelly this season.
We’re looking at a player in the receiver room who has shown a lot of signs of promise but is yet to put it all together in the form of a breakout campaign in Brian Thomas Jr. Entering a receiver room that he’s poised to be a leader in during his junior season, he has the potential to do just that in 2023.
Brian Thomas Jr. Preseason Player Profile
Hometown: Walker, Louisiana
Ht: 6-3
Wt: 205
247Sports Composite Ranking
Four Stars | No. 4 in Louisiana | No. 13 receiver
Class in 2022: Sophomore
Career Stats
| Year | G | Rec | Yards | Avg | TDs |
| 2021 | 12 | 28 | 359 | 12.8 | 2 |
| 2022 | 13 | 31 | 361 | 11.6 | 5 |
Depth Chart Overview
A former top-100 recruit coming out of high school, Thomas has made 25 appearances over the last two seasons with 15 starts. He’s had just moderate production in that time, and though his numbers didn’t skyrocket as a sophomore, he did finish fourth on the team in receptions, fifth in yards and second in touchdowns.
With [autotag]Kayshon Boutte[/autotag] and [autotag]Jaray Jenkins[/autotag] heading to the NFL while [autotag]Jack Bech[/autotag] transfers out, that room is much less crowded in 2023. Alongside one of the SEC’s top receivers in Malik Nabers, Thomas could be an impact player in that group.
There will be others competing for targets, though, such as [autotag]Chris Hilton[/autotag], [autotag]Kyren Lacy[/autotag] and Alabama transfer [autotag]Aaron Anderson[/autotag]. The Tigers added a pair of highly-rated true freshmen as well in [autotag]Jalen Brown[/autotag] and [autotag]Shelton Sampson Jr.[/autotag]