Foundation Academy’s Thomas is piling up offers

Eighteen years ago last month, little-known defensive end Bryan Thomas was drafted by the New York Jets out of UAB.

His son, Bryan Thomas Jr., is just getting started on his own football journey and he already has gained more attention from college recruiters than his father did.

This spring, the younger Thomas, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore defensive end/linebacker at Winter Garden Foundation Academy, has been offered seven Football Bowl Subdivision scholarships.

He’s not so worried about which schools are offering, but he’s elated to be popping up on their radar so early in his career.

“I’m really honored, to be honest and I’m just trying to get more and stay on my grind,” the younger Thomas said.

Being the son of a former NFL player could put pressure on a person, but Thomas said it does not bother him.

“It just really makes me want to be better than my dad and get more accolades than he had and also to learn from him,” Thomas said.

Those are big goals for the Thomas. His father had a nice career with the Jets, playing 157 games during 11 seasons. He compiled 442 combined sacks.

The sophomore takes great pride in learning from his father.

“He helps me with getting off the ball fast and working with my hands, going full speed every play and not giving up on a play,” Thomas said. “I have to stay humble. … He wants me to get better and better and get more offers.”

Thomas, who is only 15 years old, currently has offers from Minnesota, NC State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, FIU, Maryland and Pittsburgh

“I was shocked. At first, I couldn’t believe it,” Thomas said of when his offers

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33.5 started to come in following his freshman season. “I haven’t really looked at all the offers. I just notice which teams are offering me and I look at their defenses, like what kind of defenses they run and what kind and how many pass rushers they have.”

As a sophomore, Thomas nearly led the state in sacks even though he missed a pair of games in 2019. He had 16 sacks and 72 tackles, averaging 8.1 per game. He also had 23.5 tackles for a loss and 26 quarterback hurries.

Thomas has played defensive end and linebacker at Foundation, and he’ll likely come off the edge as a pass rusher in college.

Foundation recently had linebacker Danny Stutsman commit to Oklahoma and Thomas said he is learning from watching his teammate.

“It helps me because I’ve seen him working in the weight room and he’s a hard-working player,” Thomas said. “What he has right now, He earned it. It’s not given to him. When I see him get all that attention, I want to get everything that he has, but I also want to be better than him and do it in my own say. But he motivates me.”