Clayton Thorson
{{Short description|American football player (born 1995)}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Clayton Thorson
| image = ClaytonThorson.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Thorson playing with the Northwestern Wildcats in 2018
| current_team =
| number = 8, 18
| position = Quarterback
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1995|6|15}}
| birth_place = Wheaton, Illinois, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 4
| weight_lb = 222
| high_school = Wheaton North
| college = Northwestern (2014–2018)
| draftyear = 2019
| draftround = 5
| draftpick = 167
| pastteams = * Philadelphia Eagles ({{NFL Year|2019}})*
- Dallas Cowboys ({{NFL Year|2019|2020}})*
- New York Giants ({{NFL Year|2020}}–{{NFL Year|2021}})
- Houston Gamblers ({{USFL Year|2022}})
| status =
| highlights = * Third-team All-Big Ten (2017)
| statleague = USFL
| statseason =
| statweek =
| statlabel1 = Passing attempts
| statvalue1 = 149
| statlabel2 = Passing completions
| statvalue2 = 85
| statlabel3 = Completion percentage
| statvalue3 = 57.0
| statvalue4 = 10-7
| statlabel5 = Passing yards
| statvalue5 = 987
| statlabel6 = QBR
| statvalue6 = 80.0
| pfr = ThorCl00
}}
Clayton James Thorson (born June 15, 1995) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback. He played college football for the Northwestern Wildcats. He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft.
Early life
Thorson attended Wheaton North High School in Wheaton, Illinois. As a senior, he had 2,809 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, 630 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. He received all-area, all-conference and all-state honors.
In the playoffs against Fenwick High School, he guided his team to a 32–31 win, after coming back from a 6–31 second-quarter deficit, by tallying 413 passing yards and 5 touchdowns. He led his team to back-to-back state quarterfinals in his last two years. He was named MVP in Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-xpm-2014-01-14-ct-tl-0116-sports-wheaton-20140115-story.html|title=Wheaton North quarterback Clayton Thorson named MVP of Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl|work=Chicago Tribune|author=Narang, Bob|date=January 14, 2014|access-date=August 15, 2020}}
College career
Thorson accepted a football scholarship from Northwestern University.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-xpm-2014-02-04-ct-northwestern-football-spt-0205-20140205-story.html|title=Clayton Thorson heads Northwestern signing class|work=Chicago Tribune|author=Greenstein, Teddy|date=February 4, 2014|access-date=August 15, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20150831/sports/150839802/|title=Calm, collected Thorson ready to go for Northwestern|first=Mike|last=McGraw|work=Daily Herald|date=September 30, 2015|access-date=August 15, 2020}} As a redshirt freshman in 2015, he took over the starting quarterback job that was left open after Trevor Siemian graduated.{{cite web|url=https://www.si.com/college/2015/08/27/northwestern-wildcats-quarterback-clayton-thorson-named-starter|title=Clayton Thorson named Northwestern starter|work=Sports Illustrated|date=August 27, 2015|access-date=August 15, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-clayton-thorson-northwestern-football-spt-0904-20150903-story.html|title=Northwestern's Clayton Thorson has shown resolve on road to starting QB job|first=Fred|last=Mitchell|work=Chicago Tribune|date=September 3, 2015|access-date=August 15, 2020}} He completed 150 of 295 passes for 1,522 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 397 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/big-ten/big-ten-preview-year-2-starter-clayton-thorson-looks-improve-cats-passing-game|title=Big Ten preview: In Year 2 as starter, Clayton Thorson looks to improve Cats' passing game|date=August 15, 2016|publisher=NBC Sports|author=Duber, Vinnie|access-date=August 15, 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-clayton-thorson-northwestern-haugh-spt-0824-20160823-column.html|title=Clayton Thorson returns to Northwestern with more bite to his game|first=David|last=Haugh|work=Chicago Tribune|date=August 23, 2016|access-date=August 15, 2020}} He became the first quarterback in school history to have 10 wins as a freshman and in his first season as a starter.
As a sophomore in 2016, the team lost its first two games against Western Michigan University and Illinois State University. He completed 280-of-478 passes for 3,182 yards (school record for sophomores), 22 passing touchdowns (school record), 5 rushing touchdowns (second on the team) and 5 interceptions.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/141917/what-is-northwesterns-clayton-thorson-working-on-in-spring-practice|title=What is Northwestern's Clayton Thorson working on in spring practice?|publisher=ESPN|date=March 28, 2017|access-date=August 15, 2020|author=Bennett, Brian}} He had career-high 352 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns in a 45–17 win against Purdue University.
As a junior in 2017, he posted 2,844 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 8 rushing touchdowns (second on the team) and 12 interceptions. He tore his right ACL in the 2017 Music City Bowl against the University of Kentucky, while making a reception on a trick play.{{Cite web|url=https://www.saukvalley.com/2018/07/02/qb-thorson-aiming-to-be-ready-for-wildcats-opener/aomgpfg/|title=QB Thorson aiming to be ready for Wildcats' opener|last=Greenstein|first=Teddy|date=July 2, 2018|website=saukvalley.com|access-date=August 15, 2020|archive-date=December 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210160735/http://www.saukvalley.com/2018/07/02/qb-thorson-aiming-to-be-ready-for-wildcats-opener/aomgpfg/|url-status=dead}}
As a senior in 2018, he was limited by his previous right knee injury, coming back with less than 8 months of recovery. On November 10, Thorson led the Cats to a 14–10 victory over the No. 21 ranked University of Iowa, earning Northwestern the 2018 Big Ten Conference West title.{{cite web|url=https://dailynorthwestern.com/2018/11/10/top-stories/football-northwestern-secures-program-defining-win-at-no-21-iowa/|title=Northwestern football headed to first ever Big Ten Championship game|work=The Daily Northwestern=November 10, 2018|access-date=August 15, 2020}} He finished with 3,183 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 15 interceptions and 9 rushing touchdowns (led the team).
His 53 consecutive starts at quarterback is the most ever in the Big Ten and tied for the most with Colt McCoy in all of the Power Five conferences,{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} and over those 4 years Clayton set several Northwestern career records including wins (35), passing yards (10,731), completions (991) and passing touchdowns (61). He is the only quarterback in Big Ten history to pass for 10,000 yards and rush for 20 touchdowns in his career.{{cite web |last1=Spadaro |first1=Dave |title=Clayton Thorson out to win a spot in Eagles' QB room |url=https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/clayton-thorson-out-to-win-a-spot-in-eagles-qb-room |website=philadelphiaeagles.com |access-date=August 15, 2020}}
=College statistics=
| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="19" style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Northwestern Wildcats football}}"| Northwestern Wildcats | ||||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Season
! colspan="3"| Games ! colspan="9"| Passing ! colspan="7"| Rushing | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 2014
| 0 || 0 || — || colspan="14"| Redshirt | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015
| 13 || 13 || 10–3 || 150 || 295 || 50.8 || 1,522 || 5.2 || 66 || 7 || 9 || 95.9 || 100 || 397 || 4.0 || 68 || 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2016
| 13 || 13 || 7–6 || 280 || 478 || 58.6 || 3,182 || 6.7 || 58 || 22 || 9 || 125.9 || 97 || 98 || 1.0 || 42 || 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017
| 13 || 13 || 10–3 || 262 || 434 || 60.4 || 2,844 || 6.6 || 58 || 15 || 12 || 121.3 || 87 || 23 || 0.3 || 21 || 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018
| 14 || 14 || 9–5 || 299 || 489 || 61.1 || 3,183 || 6.5 || 62 || 17 || 15 || 121.2 || 78 || -110 || -1.4 || 23 || 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| Career{{cite web |title=Clayton Thorson stats |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/clayton-thorson-1.html |publisher=Sports Reference LLC. |work=www.sports-reference.com |access-date=August 15, 2020}} || 53 || 53 || 36–17 || 991 || 1,696 || 58.4 || 10,731 || 6.3 || 66 || 61 || 45 || 118.1 || 362 || 408 || 1.1 || 68 || 27 |
Professional career
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 6
| height in = 4
| weight = 222
| dash =
| ten split =
| twenty split =
| shuttle =
| cone drill =
| vertical =
| broad ft =
| broad in =
| bench =
| arm span = 31 1/8
| hand span = 9 3/4
| note = All values from NFL Combine{{Cite web |url=https://www.nfl.com/prospects/clayton-thorson/32005448-4f82-8277-badb-cd047999cb4f |title=Clayton Thorson Draft and Combine Prospect Profile |website=NFL.com |access-date=May 16, 2022}}{{Cite web |url=http://draftscout.com/dsprofile.php?PlayerId=130782&DraftYear=2019 |title=2019 Draft Scout Clayton Thorson, Northwestern NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile |website=draftscout.com |access-date=May 16, 2022}}
}}
=Philadelphia Eagles=
Thorson was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round (167th overall) of the 2019 NFL draft.{{cite web|title=Eagles select QB Clayton Thorson with No. 167 pick|url=https://www.nfl.com/news/eagles-select-qb-clayton-thorson-with-no-167-pick-0ap3000001028691|author=Teope, Herbie|website=NFL.com|date=April 27, 2019|access-date=August 15, 2020}} He was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.{{cite news |title=Eagles announce roster moves as team gets to 53-player limit |url=https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/eagles-roster-cutdown-2019 |website=PhiladelphiaEagles.com |date=August 31, 2019 |access-date=August 15, 2020}}
=Dallas Cowboys=
On September 1, 2019, Thorson was signed to the practice squad of the Dallas Cowboys.{{cite web |last1=Gallen |first1=Daniel |title=Philadelphia Eagles practice squad updates: Former Giants quarterback joins Eagles; Clayton Thorson joins Cowboys |url=https://www.pennlive.com/philadelphiaeagles/2019/09/philadelphia-eagles-practice-squad-updates-former-giants-quarterback-joins-eagles-clayton-thorson-goes-unclaimed.html |website=Penn Live |access-date=August 15, 2020}} He signed a reserve/future contract with the Cowboys on December 31. Thorson was waived on September 2, 2020.{{Cite web|last=Gantt|first=Darin|date=September 2, 2020|title=Cowboys releasing quarterback Clayton Thorson|url=https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2020/09/02/cowboys-releasing-quarterback-clayton-thorson/|access-date=September 2, 2020|website=ProFootballTalk|language=en-US}}
=New York Giants=
On September 29, 2020, Thorson was signed to the New York Giants' practice squad.{{cite web |title=RB Alfred Morris and QB Clayton Thorson added to practice squad; DB Madre Harper intends to sign Thursday |url=https://www.giants.com/news/madre-harper-alfred-morris-clayton-thorson-practice-squad |website=Giants.com |access-date=September 30, 2020}} The signing reunited him with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who was his head coach with the Cowboys. He was elevated to the active roster on December 5 and 19 for the team's weeks 13 and 15 games against the Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns, and reverted to the practice squad after each game.{{cite news |author=Eisen, Michael |title=Giants elevate DE Niko Lalos, QB Clayton Thorson; sign QB Alex Tanney to practice squad |url=https://www.giants.com/news/niko-lalos-alex-tanney-quarterback-clayton-thorson-seahawks-daniel-jones |website=Giants.com |date=December 5, 2020 |access-date=January 10, 2021}}{{cite news |author=Eisen, Michael |title=Roster moves: Giants add two quarterbacks, three DBs to active roster |url=https://www.giants.com/news/roster-moves-giants-add-two-quarterbacks-three-db-s-to-active-roster |website=Giants.com |date=December 19, 2020 |access-date=February 3, 2021 |archive-date=December 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201219210334/https://www.giants.com/news/roster-moves-giants-add-two-quarterbacks-three-db-s-to-active-roster |url-status=dead }} He signed a reserve/future contract on January 4, 2021.{{cite web|title=Giants sign 2 free agents to renegotiated contracts; 13 players to reserve/future contracts|url=https://www.giants.com/news/madre-harper-jackson-barton-contracts-nfl-2021-free-agents|author=Eisen, Michael|website=Giants.com|date=January 4, 2021}}
On August 16, 2021, Thorson was waived/injured by the Giants and placed on injured reserve.{{cite web|title=Giants sign QB Brian Lewerke; Clayton Thorson waived/injured|url=https://www.giants.com/news/brian-lewerke-clayton-thorson-waived-injured-patriots-michigan-state-spartans|author=Eisen, Michael|website=Giants.com|date=August 16, 2021}} He was released on August 25. On December 7, Thorson signed to the Giants practice squad{{cite web|title=Giants sign QB Clayton Thorson to practice squad|url=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/2021/12/08/new-york-giants-sign-qb-clayton-thorson-practice-squad/|author=Benton, Dan|website=Giantswire.com|date=December 7, 2021}} and was released on December 14.{{cite web|title=Giants sign Woodrow Hamilton to practice squad, protect four|url=https://giantswire.usatoday.com/2021/12/15/new-york-giants-sign-woodrow-hamilton-practice-squad-protect-four/|author=Benton, Dan|website=Giantswire.com|date=December 15, 2021}} On January 8, 2022, Thorson was signed back to the practice squad. His contract expired when the team's season ended on January 9.
=Houston Gamblers=
On February 22, 2022, Thorson was selected by the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL) in the 2022 USFL draft.{{Cite web|title=USFL Draft 2022: Houston Gamblers take QB Clayton Thorson|url=https://www.foxsports.com/stories/usfl/usfl-draft-2022-houston-gamblers-take-qb-clayton-thorson|access-date=2022-02-23|website=Fox Sports|language=en}} He was named the team's starting quarterback, even though he showed inconsistent play in the first two contests, while throwing 4 interceptions. On June 2, he was transferred to the inactive/injured reserve roster with an elbow injury.{{cite tweet |user=USFLGamblers |title=Roster Updates |number=1532316344821198849 |date=June 2, 2022 |access-date=June 3, 2022}} He started in the first seven games of the season, completing 57% of his passes for 987 yards, 10 passing touchdowns, 71 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown and 7 interceptions. At the time of his injury, he was the league's leader in passing touchdowns. He was replaced with Kenji Bahar. On January 5, 2023, Thorson was released by the Gamblers.{{cite tweet |user=Newsusfl |title=Michigan QB Paxton Lynch and Houston QB Clayton Thorson have been removed from team rosters |number= 1611115431414095873 |date=January 5, 2023 |access-date=March 14, 2023}}
=Professional statistics=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+USFL statistics ! rowspan="2"| Year ! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="8"| Passing ! colspan="4"| Rushing | |||||||||||||
| {{abbr|GP|Games played}} | {{abbr|GS|Games started}} | {{abbr|Cmp|Passes completed}} | {{abbr|Att|Passes attempted}} | {{abbr|Pct|Completion percentage}} | {{abbr|Yds|Passing yards}} | {{abbr|Y/A|Yards per passing attempt}} | {{abbr|TD|Passing touchdowns}} | {{abbr|Int|Interceptions}} | {{abbr|Rtg|Passer rating}} | {{abbr|Att|Rushing attempts}} | {{abbr|Yds|Rushing yards}} | {{abbr|Avg|Yards per rushing attempt}} | {{abbr|TD|Rushing touchdowns}} |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | HOU
| 7 || 7 || 85 || 149 || 57.0 || 987 || 6.6 || 10 || 7 || 80.0 || 14 || 66 || 4.7 || 1 |
Personal life
Thorson and his wife, Audrey, have been married since June 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-northwestern-clayton-thorson-engaged-20170803-story.html|title=Strike up the band. Northwestern's Clayton Thorson is engaged|first=Teddy|last=Greenstein|website=chicagotribune.com|access-date=August 15, 2020}}{{Cite news|title='Sleeper' & keeper?|url=https://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/tribune/article_popover.aspx?guid=715462cd-b085-4abf-a13e-6cee582d7e4e|last=Greenstein|first=Teddy|date=April 24, 2019|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=August 15, 2020}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://nusports.com/sports/football/roster/clayton-thorson/5832 Northwestern Wildcats bio]
- {{commons category-inline}}
{{Northwestern Wildcats quarterback navbox}}
{{Eagles2019DraftPicks}}{{Houston Roughnecks starting quarterback navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorson, Clayton}}
Category:Players of American football from Wheaton, Illinois
Category:American football quarterbacks
Category:Northwestern Wildcats football players
Category:Philadelphia Eagles players
Category:Dallas Cowboys players