DQ Thomas
{{Short description|American football player (born 1998)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = DQ Thomas
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| current_team =
| number =
| position = Linebacker
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1998|12|12}}
| birth_place = Oxford, Mississippi, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lb = 215
| high_school = Oxford
(Oxford, Mississippi)
| college = Middle Tennessee State (2017–2021)
| undraftedyear = 2022
| pastteams =
- New York Jets ({{NFL Year|2022}})*
- Green Bay Packers ({{NFL Year|2022}})*
- Hamilton Tiger-Cats ({{CFL Year|2024}})
| status =
| highlights =
- Second-team All-C-USA (2021)
| statweek =
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| statlabel1 =
| statvalue1 =
| pfr = ThomDQ00
| cfl = dq-thomas/166839
}}
DQuarius D'Juan Thomas (born December 12, 1998) is an American professional football linebacker. He most recently played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Middle Tennessee where he is the school's all-time leader in tackles for loss with 53. He originally signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2022.
Early life
Thomas played high school football for Oxford High School in Oxford, Mississippi. He lettered in football and powerlifting while also earning All-State and All-Region honors. In his senior season in 2016, he made 115 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, four hurries, and five interceptions at safety.
College career
Thomas played in all thirteen games and made one start. He finished the season with nine tackles, two sacks, and 2.5 tackles for loss, having his best game against FIU where he made three tackles alongside one sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. He made his only start of the season against Charlotte.
During Thomas' sophomore season, he played in all fourteen games with twelve starts. He ranked tied for third on his team for tackles with seventy while also having a team-high 14.5 tackles for loss and sacks with eight. He had his best game of the season in a 27–7 win over UAB where he had seven total tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble, causing him to also be named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week.
He started twelve of the twelve games he played during his junior season. He was second on the team with a career-high 74 tackles and a team-leading twelve tackles for loss. He also tallied two sacks, two forced fumbles, and a single pass breakup. He led the team in tackles in their game against Michigan, with ten.
He started all nine games. He ranked third on the team with 67 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. He led the team's linebackers in snaps with 660. He had a career-high in tackles in a game with twelve against North Texas.
He started ten of twelve games, finishing third on the team with 89 tackles, a career-high seventeen tackles for loss, five sacks, two interceptions, seven hurries, and a fumble forced and recovery. He finished ninth nationally in tackles for loss per game with 1.4. He was voted a team captain for the season along with being voted Second-Team All-C-USA. After missing the team's game against UTSA he returned against Charlotte and had four tackles and two hurries to earn the team's defensive player of the game award. He made his first career interception against Liberty. He earned his second career C-USA Defensive Player of the Week after having ten tackles, two tackles for loss, and a pick-6 against Southern Miss. He was named as the Bahamas Bowl Defensive MVP after having eight tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a pass breakup in the 31–24 win over Toledo.{{cite web |title=FB: C-USA Announces 2021 All-Conference Teams |url=https://conferenceusa.com/news/2021/12/7/football-fb-c-usa-announces-2021-all-conference-teams.aspx |website=conferenceusa.com |access-date=18 November 2022}}
=Statistics=
He finished his career ranked first all-time in career tackles for loss with 53 and third all-time in sacks with 20.5.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Season
! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="9"| Defense | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Solo | Ast | TOT | TFL | Sack | Int | PD | FF | FR | |
| colspan="16" style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders}}" | Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders | |||||||||||
| 2017
| 13 || 1 || 7 || 2 || 9 || 2.5 || 2 || 0 || 0 || 1 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2018
| 14 || 12 || 43 || 27 || 70 || 14.5 || 8 || 0 || 3 || 2 || 2 | |||||||||||
| 2019
| 12 || 12 || 47 || 27 || 74 || 12 || 2 || 0 || 1 || 2 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2020
| 9 || 9 || 29 || 38 || 67 || 7 || 3.5 || 0 || 0 || 2 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2021
| 12 || 10 || 54 || 35 || 89 || 17 || 5 || 2 || 5 || 1 || 1 | |||||||||||
| Career{{cite web |title=DQ Thomas Stats |url=https://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/4374358/dq-thomas |website=espn.com |access-date=18 November 2022}}{{cite web |title=DQ Thomas Statistics |url=https://goblueraiders.com/sports/football/roster/dq-thomas/8381 |website=goblueraiders.com |access-date=18 November 2022}} | 60 | 44 | 180 | 129 | 309 | 53 | 20.5 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 3 |
Professional career
After going undrafted in the 2022 NFL draft, Thomas signed with the New York Jets on May 6, 2022.{{cite web |last1=Wyatt-Hupton |first1=David |title=Who is DQ Thomas? |url=https://jetsway.substack.com/p/who-is-dq-thomas |website=jetsway.com |publisher=substack |access-date=18 November 2022}} He was released on August 30, 2022, and then spent a week on the practice squad before being released again.{{cite web |last1=Bent |title=Scouting Jets UDFA linebacker DQ Thomas |url=https://www.ganggreennation.com/2022/6/6/23154330/scouting-jets-udfa-linebacker-dq-thomas |website=ganggreennation.com |date=June 6, 2022 |publisher=sb nation |access-date=18 November 2022}}{{cite web |last1=Moran |first1=Ryan |title=Could New York Jets UDFA rookie DQ Thomas sneak into a thin LB room? |url=https://jetsxfactor.com/2022/05/17/ny-jets-udfa-dq-thomas-lb/ |website=jetsxfactor.com |date=May 17, 2022 |access-date=18 November 2022}}
On September 20, 2022, Thomas signed with the Green Bay Packers' practice squad.{{cite web |title=Packers sign LB DQ Thomas to practice squad |url=https://www.packers.com/news/packers-sign-lb-dq-thomas-to-practice-squad-2022#:~:text=The%20Green%20Bay%20Packers%20signed,by%20General%20Manager%20Brian%20Gutekunst. |website=packers.com |access-date=September 20, 2022 |date=September 20, 2022}} On January 6, 2023, he suffered a broken femur during practice.{{Cite web |agency=Associated Press |title=Packers practice-squad LB DQ Thomas fractures his femur |url=https://www.nbc15.com/2023/01/06/packers-practice-squad-lb-dq-thomas-fractures-his-femur/ |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=nbc15 |language=en}} He did not sign a futures contract with the team and his contract expired when free agency started.{{Cite web |last=justis.mosqueda |date=2023-01-11 |title=The Packers sign 13 players to futures contracts |url=https://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2023/1/11/23549795/green-bay-packers-roster-update-2023-futures-contract-signings |access-date=2023-03-26 |website=Acme Packing Company |language=en}}
On April 25, 2024, Thomas signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL).{{Cite web |date=April 25, 2024 |title=Hot eats, cool treats: Ticats sign prolific Middle Tennessee LB DQ Thomas, one other |url=https://3downnation.com/2024/04/25/hot-eats-cool-treats-ticats-sign-prolific-middle-tennessee-lb-dq-thomas-one-other/ |access-date=July 2, 2024 |website=3DownNation}} He played in 11 games where he had six defensive tackles and three special teams tackles. He was with the team in training camp in 2025, but was part of the final cuts on June 1, 2025.{{cite web|url=https://www.ticats.ca/2025/06/01/ticats-transactions-june-1-2/ |title=Ticats Transactions June 1 |publisher=Hamilton Tiger-Cats |date=June 1, 2025}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.ticats.ca/players/dq-thomas/166839/ Hamilton Tiger-Cats bio]
- [https://goblueraiders.com/sports/football/roster/dq-thomas/8381 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders bio]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, DQ}}
Category:American football linebackers
Category:Green Bay Packers players
Category:Hamilton Tiger-Cats players
Category:Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football players
Category:New York Jets players
Category:Players of American football from Mississippi
Category:Players of Canadian football from Mississippi