June 14, 2013,
Possible Broncos sleeper: Lamaar Thomas
By Mike Klis
The Denver Post
Broncos safety David Bruton and tight end Julius Thomas were perhaps the biggest surprises of the offseason. Those players, though, have been around a while.
Among rookies, undrafted receiver Lamaar ?Flash? Thomas caught the coaches? attention. Not bad for a guy who had 29 catches in four college seasons.
Thomas was recruited by Jim Tressel to Ohio State in 2008 but after two years and just 39 yards receiving on five catches, the Ft. Washington, Maryland product transferred to New Mexico.
After sitting out a year, Thomas suffered ankle and foot injuries after just four games as a junior in 2011. He then suffered more bad luck during his senior season of 2012 when the Lobos went to a ground-heavy option attack. To show how much New Mexico ran the ball, Thomas was the school?s top receiver last year with 15 catches for 165 yards. He had twice as many carries (31) for 220 rushing yards as he occasionally ran from the ?Wildcat.?
Despite his minimal college production, Thomas has a chance at the next level because of his legit sprinter?s speed. He helped Ohio State win the Big Ten track championship in the 4 X 100 relay and at the Mountain West Outdoor Championships with the Lobos he finished second in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.33 seconds.
Tavarres King is the Broncos? top rookie receiver as he was drafted in the fifth round out of Georgia. But King was slowed during the offseason with a quad pull suffered during rookie minicamp. Thomas took advantage. It would still be an upset if Thomas made the Broncos? 53-man roster but at the very least he is a solid contender for the practice squad.
