There aren’t many NFL players who can say they were college teammates, but the New Orleans Saints have a couple of highly-decorated pros who can make that boast. According to Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon, the duo of wide receiver Michael Thomas and cornerback Marshon Lattimore is one of the best tandems in the league who started out together in college.
And, yeah, that checks out. Even if injuries have cut into their availability in recent years (Thomas was limited to just three games last season, Lattimore only appeared in seven), that doesn’t diminish their accomplishments. Lattimore has been a near-annual Pro Bowl selection. Thomas ended a 20-year drought for a wide receiver to win recognition as NFL Offensive Player of the Year. They’ve just got to get healthy, but that seems to be an unfortunately common problem for New Orleans.
Here’s Kenyon’s recap of each player’s achievements to this point:
The New Orleans Saints leaned on two Ohio State products to help them rattle off four straight NFC South titles from 2017-20.
Michael Thomas, a third-team All-Big Ten selection in 2015, notched two All-Pro campaigns during that stretch. Most notably, the wideout set an NFL record with 149 receptions in the 2019 season.
New Orleans picked Thomas in the second round of the 2016 draft and cornerback Marshon Lattimore in 2017’s opening round. The latter was named first-team All-Big Ten in 2016 and won AP Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2017. He also added Pro Bowl honors three straight years from 2019-2021.
Thomas and Lattimore both missed a majority of 2022 due to injury but are prime candidates for bounce-back years.
Hopefully both Lattimore and Thomas can return to full health and reestablish themselves on the national stage in 2023. The Saints redoubled their commitments to Lattimore through another contract restructure this spring while also signing Thomas to what’s effectively another one-year extension — meaning they’ll have to circle back and figure out a long-term solution with him next offseason. If he and Derek Carr can play as well together as they hope, that may end up being an easy decision.
