Kansas City Chiefs Scouting Report: Michael Thomas

Wide receiver has been an area of need for the Kansas City Chiefs over the past few seasons. Could Michael Thomas be an early round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft for Kansas City?

While the KC Chiefs have Jeremy Maclin on their roster, he can’t do all of the work on the offensive side of the ball. Chiefs fans saw that firsthand during the AFC Divisional Round against the Patriots, as it was evident that Chris Conley and Albert Wilson aren’t quite ready to step in and be the dominant number two receiver just yet.

If the Chiefs decide to take a receiver in one of the early rounds, Michael Thomas out of Ohio State would be a nice option.

With 18 touchdowns in three seasons with the Buckeyes, Thomas provides a good route runner to whichever team drafts him. He’s also got good hands and is the preferred size for a receiver in the NFL. He put up 1,602 receiving yards off of 113 to go along with those 18 trips to the end zone.

Combine Results

40-yard dash – 4.57 seconds
Bench press – 18 reps*
Vertical jump – 35.0 inch
Broad jump – 126.0 inch
3-cone drill – 6.80 seconds
20-yard shuttle – 4.13 seconds
60-yard shuttle – 11.70 seconds

* = Combine top performer

Combine results courtesy of NFL.com’s Draft Tracker

Thomas is the nephew of former NFL wide receiver and number one overall pick in 1996 Keyshawn Johnson, which likely won’t bump his draft stock, but is a cool fact.

More from KC Kingdom

What seems to be a problem for Thomas is that he wasn’t asked to do a whole lot of different things while at Ohio State. He only ran certain types of routes and never seemed to work vertically much while with the Buckeyes. He’s also not the best at blocking, which is something the Chiefs need in a wide receiver.

"Thomas isn’t the fastest or most explosive, but he is a good-sized athlete and detailed route-runner with little wasted movements to create spacing at the stem. Although he will need time to adapt to a NFL playbook, he projects as an ideal No. 2 wide receiver at the next level due to his savvy footwork, body control and ball-skills to be a reliable possession target. – Dane Brugler of CBS Sports"

Thomas sounds like he could be a very good receiver, but will take a season or two to get the hang of things. The Chiefs really need to be looking at a receiver that could be plugged in and start right away, and it doesn’t really sound like that’s Michael Thomas’ forte right off the bat.

Next: Five Chiefs Who Need to Step Up in 2016

He could be a nice addition years down the road, but the Chiefs probably will not draft him, as the hope is for Conley to eventually slide into that number two spot.

Would you want the Chiefs to draft Michael Thomas or another wide receiver early on?

Home/Chiefs Draft Analysis