Washington Commanders tight end Logan Thomas has been something of a tragic figure in the NFL as he has battled through lower-body injuries throughout his career. Drafted in the fourth round in 2014 as a quarterback by the Arizona Cardinals, his only claim to fame with Arizona was that his one completion on nine attempts went for an 81-yard touchdown. In 2016 alone, he was cut from the New York Giants practice squad eight times before landing in Buffalo and being converted to tight end.
His first significant injury was in 2018 with the Buffalo Bills when he tore a meniscus. He also missed time with a hamstring injury, which started a growing list of ailments.
After a nondescript 2019 season with Detroit, Thomas signed with Washington in 2020 and earned his first chance to be a starter. He shattered all of his previous career marks by catching 72 passes for 672 yards and six touchdowns. Firmly on everyone’s fantasy radar, 2021 was another injury-plagued season that saw him play just six games.
Last season, he was placed on injured reserve with a Grade 2 hamstring strain in Week 4 and missed six games. He came back but in Week 13 sustained a Grade 3 ACL tear that also required surgical repair to his MCL and meniscus.
By his own admission, he is at about 75-80 percent of his rehab process as training camp opens. While he told the local media that he is shooting for a return on Week 1, it is more likely that he will start the season on one of the injured lists and miss the first three to six games.
The Commanders didn’t take any chances that Thomas may not be back. In addition to 2021 rookie John Bates, who played well after Thomas went down both times last season, the team moved Antonio Gandy-Golden from wide receiver to tight end and drafted Cole Turner from Nevada in the fifth round. These moves have all the appearances of a team preparing to be without Thomas.
Fantasy football outlook
With Carson Wentz‘s history of targeting athletic tight ends, Thomas will be a priority weapon who could approach his 2020 numbers — provided he is physically up for it. But, at the moment, there are too many questions and not enough answers.
Although Thomas has the skill level to be a TE1, his injury history and the uncertainty as to whether he will be available for the start of the season drops him to the TE2 level – with some fantasy owners likely to devalue him to the bottom of that tier.
