Last year’s PPR WR4, everyone and their mother felt Brian Thomas Jr. was headed for a superstar breakout prior to the 2025 campaign. A full season with Trevor Lawrence under center (knock on wood), a full offseason with new head coach Liam Coen, and Travis Hunter to prevent teams from double-teaming him at will… it all lined up perfectly. Yet through three weeks, he’s been the PPR WR55. Jacksonville looks good, but their young star cannot put it all together. It begs the question of whether Brian Thomas Jr. can be trusted in DFS lineups this Sunday?
BTJ’s struggles haven’t just been due to bad luck or unfavorable game flow. The physical high-pointing receiver we saw dominating defenses last year has disappeared. He’s getting beat up on contested catches, dropping easy balls, and occasionally giving up on routes. It’s a performance so bad it makes you wonder if his wrist injury has been worse than the team has let on.
You can’t point all the blame at Trevor Lawrence as he’s been playing fairly well so far. And you can’t blame the offense entirely, which has found ways to keep moving the ball. He was an elite WR1 with a worse offense and a worse quarterback last year. Whether it’s injury or performance-related, the struggles come down to Thomas Jr. himself.
Wide receivers can be volatile, and injuries are fickle. He’s going to bounce back sooner or later. But the conundrum for this Sunday is that Thomas Jr. is priced as a WR1 at $6,100 against an elite San Francisco defense. It makes it difficult to justify him in DFS lineups, especially with more productive receivers facing worse defenses priced behind him.
Thomas Jr. will eventually return to his productive ways. But don’t tank your lineup hoping he figures it out this week.
