Ravens WR/RS De’Anthony Thomas voluntarily opts out of the 2020 season
Over the weekend Kansas City Chiefs starting guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, a medical school graduate, became the first player to voluntarily opt-out of the 2020 season after the league and the NFLPA came to an agreement that allows players to be allowed to sit out the upcoming season for a multitude of different reasons pertaining concerns stemming from the global pandemic. On Monday Baltimore Ravens wide receiver and return specialist, De’Anthony Thomas became the second. He will be the first Ravens’ player to be placed on the reserve/voluntary opt-out list.
Thomas joined the Ravens late last season in early November and the hope was that he would add some more speed to the receiver position with Marquise Hollywood Brown still nursing a foot injury and provide a spark to the return game. In eight games he didn’t catch a single pass or receive a single target in the passing and was given just one carry for one yard.
As a punt returner, he had just 93 yards on 13 attempts for a 7.2-yard average with a long of 20 and as a kick returner, he totaled 166 yards on 10 attempts for a 16.6-yard average with a long of 31. He didn’t come close to breaking a big return or scoring a touchdown and played just 28 percent of the special teams’ snaps during that span.
He was one of the most electrifying returners and offensive weapons for the Oregon Ducks from 2011 to 2013 and earned the name Black Mamba for his lethal ability to score anytime he had the ball in his hands He amassed 2,159 yards and five touchdowns as a kick/punt returner and 3,186 yards and 41 scores from scrimmage as a speedy receiver/running back hybrid in former Duck’s coach Chip Kelly’s high tempo offense.
Thomas was drafted in the fourth round of the 2014 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs but has yet to become the dynamic player maker that many envisioned he would be at the pro level. He would’ve faced an uphill battle to make the roster this year with a plethora of young talent at the receiver position.
His best chance of making the final 53 would’ve been winning the starting returner job and he still would’ve faced stiff competition at in that race too with sixth round rookie James Proche out of SMU who the coaches believe can be a factor returning kicks and punts. Even emerging as the front runner for that job might not have been enough because the Ravens value versatility and are firm believers in “the more you can do, the better chance you have at making and staying on the team.”
