A 2025 NFL Draft scouting report on Pittsburgh Steelers UDFA signing South Alabama FB DJ Thomas-Jones.<\/p>\n
No. 8 DJ Thomas-Jones\/FB South Alabama \u2013 6015, 250 pounds (Fifth-Year Senior)
\nMEASUREMENTS<\/p>\n
Player
\nHt\/Wt
\nHand Size
\nArm Length
\nWingspan<\/p>\n
DJ Thomas-Jones
\n6015\/250*
\n10*
\n33 1\/8*
\n78 7\/8*<\/p>\n
40-Yard Dash
\n10-Yard Dash
\nShort Shuttle
\n3-Cone<\/p>\n
4.63*
\n1.71*
\n4.21*
\n7.02*<\/p>\n
Broad Jump
\nVertical
\nBench Press<\/p>\n
10\u20190\u2033*
\n35*
\n18*<\/p>\n
*Pro Day Results<\/p>\n
THE GOOD<\/p>\n
\u2013 Thickly build with plus length, especially relative to height
\u2013 Powerful and impact blocker in run game
\u2013 Strong and able to knock smaller defenders off their feet
\u2013 Sticks and drives, finishes blocks through the whistle
\u2013 Effective down blocker who seals defenders and creates run game alleys
\u2013 Shows soft hands on receiving opportunities with good concentration and ability to catch in traffic
\u2013 Size creates minor YAC ability to drive legs and fall forward
\u2013 Versatile and moved around the offense
\u2013 Experience in pass protection with strength and ability to seal
\u2013 Intriguing athletic testing<\/p>\n
The Bad<\/p>\n
\u2013 Can slide off blockers in space
\u2013 Didn\u2019t have true route tree and mostly ran into the flats and underneath routes
\u2013 Won\u2019t burst away from man coverage over the middle
\u2013 Lacks height to play in-line tight end
\u2013 Limited reps out of a three-point stance and generally played on his feet
\u2013 Limited special teams background<\/p>\n
Bio<\/p>\n
\u2013 Turns 23 in July 2025 Tape Breakdown<\/p>\n DJ Thomas-Jones began his career at Ole Miss before returning close to home and joining South Alabama for his final three college seasons. Though listed as a tight end throughout his time in school, the Steelers referred to him as a fullback. Thomas-Jones (who at Ole Miss went by Damarcus Thomas) has a short and stocky build but excellent length with a profile similar to David Johnson of years ago.<\/p>\n Mostly used as a blocker, Thomas-Jones is powerful and impactful. He can plant smaller players on their butt. He is No. 8 in all of the below clips.<\/p>\n He drives, finishes, and plays with the tenacity desired from a lead blocker. Thomas-Jones is also effective on down blocks and clearing alleys for runners. Watch him seal off the defender in the final clip, the back running off his hip to daylight.<\/p>\n In 2024, he wasn\u2019t utilized downfield as a receiver and mostly caught passes in the flat and the occasional shovel pass in a Harold Fannin Jr.-type of way. But in 2023, Thomas-Jones did get some downfield burn and popped, showing soft hands and creating plays in the red zone.<\/p>\n Negatively, he can slide off blocks in the run game.<\/p>\n Despite flashing as a receiver, he\u2019s not a great athlete. He is more of a linear\/build-up player and did most of his work underneath, failing to average even 10 yards per reception in his career. He\u2019s also had some scary medical situations, presumably suffering a neck\/spinal injury in 2020 and collapsing on the sideline in 2022.<\/p>\n Thomas-Jones wasn\u2019t used as a backfield fullback and mostly played with his hand-up aligned as a wing\/H-Back. To assume a true fullback role, he\u2019ll have to play out of a three-point stance far more often.<\/p>\n Conclusion<\/p>\n Overall, DJ Thomas-Jones is an effective run blocker with impressive power and lead blocking ability. He can also offer something as a receiver, though it won\u2019t be the main focus of his game. He\u2019ll need to work on playing out of a three-point stance, and contributing on special teams is key. But there\u2019s something to like about his game, and without a true fullback, Thomas-Jones could try to fill that void if he\u2019s a quick learner of the position.<\/p>\n Chances To Make 53-Man Roster: 33.3 percent
\u2013 Spent 2020-2021 seasons at Ole Miss, 2022-2024 seasons at South Alabama
\u2013 Career: 74 receptions for 659 yards (8.9 YPC) and 11 TDs (caught just one pass at Ole Miss)
\u2013 2024: 22 receptions for 191 yards (8.7 YPC) and 3 TDs; All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention
\u2013 Had three career multi-touchdown games (including three TD day against Texas State in 2023)
\u2013 Three-star recruit from Mobile, Alabama; chose Ole Miss over Tennessee, Southern Miss, and handful of other schools
\u2013 Listed at 230 pounds in 2022
\u2013 681 offensive snaps in 2024 (510 in-line, 97 slot, 20 backfield per PFF)
\u2013 46 punt coverage snaps in 2024, makes up majority of college special teams snaps
\u2013 Collapsed on sideline and hospitalized during game in October 2022<\/a>, missed one game before returning
\u2013 Airlifted to hospital<\/a> in 2020 after suffering practice injury at Ole Miss, but later discharged and avoided severe injury<\/p>\n
Games Watched: at Georgia Southern (2024), vs Northeastern State (2024), vs Appalachian State (2024), vs Arkansas State (2024), 2023 TD cut-up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 2025 NFL Draft scouting report on Pittsburgh Steelers UDFA signing South Alabama FB DJ Thomas-Jones. No. 8…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[80,4064,7,6,8332],"class_list":{"0":"post-15666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-2025-nfl-draft","9":"tag-dj-thomas-jones","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-south-alabama"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114433583610844561","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}