The last time we saw Michael Thomas play a full NFL season, he was setting the league on fire for a record 149 catches. The Saints seemingly needed every one.
Three-plus years later, Michael Thomas is back and healthy. But he's now a piece of an impressive offense, not THE offense. That's how things played out in Week 1, with Thomas catching 6 passes for 61 yards, but with Chris Olave leading the way with 8 catches for 112 yards and Rashid Shaheed hauling in two of the biggest passes in a 16-15 Saints win.
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"I think Michael Thomas, even if he’s not the top dog, that he’s willing to accept that,” the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert said on WWL this week.
If that's the case, the Saints become even more difficult to defend, because you can't double team everybody. Thomas is still as physical as they come, and there will inevitably be matchups that he shines in.
Could a Monday Night Football matchup against the Carolina Panthers be one of those games? It's certainly possible. Thomas has always seemed to show up big on the big stage and the Panthers will be without their top CB in Jaycee Horn, who went to injured reserve with a hamstring injury. Will Thomas draw Donte Jackson or CJ Henderson? Neither player is one who thrives on physicality.
“You have a gameplan and that’s what makes a big difference having a veteran quarterback instead of a young stud like Bryce Young who was unbelievable at Alabama," Hebert said. "Hey, but this is the NFL dog. It helps when you have skins on the wall and that experience. You cannot buy a top NFL quarterback with experience, because you understand the chess match and the gameplan, how you’re trying to attack the defense. So there’s a lot of options.”
In the end, a per game average of 5 catches for 61 yards might be what to expect out of Mike Thomas, and after three seasons derailed by injuries, fans and the player himself would almost certainly be thrilled with that if it spreads over 17 games. For perspective, that would extrapolate to a season of 85 catches for 1,037 yards. The Saints would be all the better for it.
"That might be a pretty good comeback,” Hebert said.
