Julius Thomas Can Be a Star Tight End Away from Peyton Manning

Julius Thomas is facing one of the biggest tests a pass-catching player in the NFL can face. He is leaving Peyton Manning.

After four years with the Denver Broncos, Thomas joined the Jacksonville Jaguars as a priority free agent this offseason. Thomas had 109 catches over the past two seasons while playing in just 27 games. Those 108 catches produced an incredible 24 touchdowns and 1,277 yards.

Because he primarily played basketball in college and was injured for the first two seasons of his professional career, Thomas has essentially never played with another quarterback outside of Manning.

Leaving Manning is such a big deal for receivers because his ability directly creates more high-quality opportunities for his targets. Manning understands how to find his receivers when they have favorable matchups, while his accuracy makes it easier for receivers to physically catch the ball.

Maybe most significantly, Manning's anticipation allows his receivers to create separation in their routes.

These traits allowed Emmanuel Sanders to flourish last season in his first campaign with the Broncos. Sanders set career highs in receptions (101), yards (1,404) and touchdowns (9) by large margins after playing four seasons with Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While Sanders was excelling in Denver, Eric Decker was offering an obvious comparison point after he left the Broncos in the 2014 offseason. The comparison wasn't completely fair because Decker dealt with health issues throughout the year, but his production declined as he endured a campaigns with multiple quarterbacks in the New York Jets offense. In 2013 with Manning, Decker totaled 87 receptions for 1,288 yards and 11 touchdowns. In 2014 with New York, he only had 74 catches for 962 yards and five scores.

Thomas won't expect to endure the same struggles that Decker did last year, but it wouldn't be irrational if he did. His own injury history is damning, while Blake Bortles remains an unproven commodity.

Bortles had a very disappointing rookie season, struggling to read defenses while throwing a huge number of interceptions. An inability to read defenses was compounded by poor accuracy. Bortles' poor accuracy was partly attributed to his sloppy throwing motion.

A throwing motion that hasn't yet been corrected.

Expecting Bortles to replicate what Manning has done with Thomas over the past two seasons is unfair to the young quarterback. Thomas can't expect the same quality of service in Jacksonville. However, that doesn't mean he can't be a star tight end for his new team.

The Jaguars have invested a lot of resources into Bortles' supporting cast. He should have a better running game, improved pass protection and more viable receivers in 2015.

Thomas will be just one piece of an improved offense, but unlike in Denver, he will be a prioritized piece. In Denver, Julius Thomas was the team's third receiving option behind Demaryius Thomas and Sanders. In Jacksonville, he should be the lead option for the passing game.

At worst, he will be second behind Allen Robinson.

At 27 years of age, Thomas is entering the prime of his career. He has more experience than any of the Jaguars wide receivers and is more dynamic than fellow tight end Marcedes Lewis. Maybe most significantly, he should offer Bortles a greater margin for error than his other targets.

He will do that because of his versatile skill set and athleticism. Thomas may have benefited from playing with Manning, but all of his production shouldn't be attributed to the quarterback. He is an impressive talent as a standalone player.

Standing at 6'5" and 250 pounds, Thomas casts an imposing figure. His athleticism entering the draft didn't test as spectacular, but on the field, that athleticism has proved to be outstanding.

What makes Thomas stand out more than anything else is his fluidity. Most players of his size are linear movers or rigid from the waist up. Thomas shows off movement skills that typically resemble those of a much smaller receiver.

He is capable of adjusting to the ball in different ways, both low and high, while still making contested catches against tight coverage.

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Thomas' ball skills are impressive. Despite his basketball-heavy background—or maybe because of it—he tracks the ball very well. Recognizing the flight of the football early in any play puts the receiver at a huge advantage over the defensive back covering him.

Receivers who recognize the flight of the ball early are able to manipulate defensive backs into a position that favors the offense.

This is beneficial when Thomas works deep down the field. Thomas is an impressive deep threat who can line up wide of the numbers and work his way down the sideline. He regularly got matchups against safeties and linebackers in these situations for the Broncos.

If that changes in Jacksonville, the offense should benefit from matchups elsewhere. If it doesn't, Thomas should continue to be effective.

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On this play against the San Diego Chargers, Thomas is working against Eric Weddle, one of the best safeties in the NFL. Weddle plays near-perfect coverage, but he began the play from a press-man position and doesn't have the size to overpower Thomas through his route.

As such, Weddle (5'11", 200 lbs) can't turn to locate the football early in the route. Thomas already has his eyes on the ball as Weddle continues to fight with his hands to get tighter to the tight end's body.

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While keeping his eyes on the football in the air, Thomas uses his inside arm to leverage space against Weddle. Crucially, he never fully extends his inside arm. Instead, he works with his elbow to pry Weddle away from his body.

This is an important detail because officials typically call pass interference for extended arms. Using a shortened, more subtle movement allows Thomas to push off without being penalized.

Although this looks like a perfect throw from Manning, Thomas is the one who creates a route for the ball to pass the defensive back and land in his chest. Manning essentially just put the ball up for Thomas to win in the air. He put the ball out in front of Thomas, and it was accurate. But he didn't throw the tight end open.

Lining up on the outside allows Thomas to be a deep threat, but he also has the footwork to release off the line against press coverage. This makes him a factor on short and intermediate routes because a receiver of his size with his precise feet is tough to catch once he has created an opening.

In the red zone, this makes Thomas a threat both on fade routes and on slant routes.

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Against the Indianapolis Colts, Thomas regularly matched up against strong safety LaRon Landry. Landry isn't a great cover safety, and Thomas highlighted that on multiple occasions. On this play, he is aligned to the near side of the field against press coverage.

Landry has no safety help this close to the line of scrimmage, so he is fearing a sideline route from the beginning of the play.

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Thomas sells the sideline route with one quick, aggressive outside step. He immediately pushes inside off that planted foot to run past Landry's inside shoulder on a slant route. Landry was drawn toward the sideline by Thomas' step, creating wide-open space for the tight end to run into.

Manning ultimately has a wide-open receiver with a huge catch radius to simply pitch the ball to. Thomas created the opening and caught the ball for a simple touchdown.

For as much as Bortles struggled during his rookie season, this kind of pass attempt is one that any quarterback at the NFL level should expect to make every single time. Thomas can create these kinds of situations as an outside receiver but also as a slot receiver.

His speed on quick outs and his threat on deep crossing routes are such that very few linebackers or safeties can stick with him. Even when they do, winning at the catch point against a bigger body is a problem.

With running back T.J. Yeldon and a retooled offensive line, the Jaguars are expected to commit to running the ball in 2015. That should give Thomas a large number of opportunities to get open over the middle of the field on deep routes off of play action.

If given space, Thomas is very difficult to stop.

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Over the past two seasons, Thomas has accumulated 17 20-plus-yard plays and two 40-plus-yard plays. Seventy-one of his 108 receptions went for first downs. His deep numbers aren't exceptionally impressive, but part of that is usage. Thomas wasn't being asked to attack down the field as often as he could have been.

In Jacksonville, it makes more sense for the offense to unleash Thomas as a deep threat from the middle of the field to complement the other receiving options on the team.

Bortles isn't an accurate passer or someone who can pick apart a defense. He has proved to have a strong arm and the ability to extend plays while keeping his eyes downfield. If his mechanics are improved, he should be able to provide Thomas with more downfield opportunities than Manning did.

The greater quantity and different types of targets that Thomas receives in Jacksonville should allow him to mitigate some of the lost production he suffers from leaving Manning.

Regardless of whether he suffers a drop in production, Thomas' impact can still be huge on the Jaguars offense. He can still be a star tight end acting as the team's No. 1 receiver, winning situationally and making Bortles' job easier.

Thomas is a deep-threat receiver, a mismatch against linebackers and safeties and boasts a wide catch radius. His skill set isn't dependent on his quarterback. It's very impressive on its own.

The biggest threat to Thomas' potential impact for the Jaguars is his health rather than his support. Having missed so many games throughout his career and playing hurt during the second half of last season, it's hard to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to durability.

It's much easier when it comes to talent.