Xavier Thomas may be in the best shape of his life as he prepares for his most important season of his career at Clemson.  For the second year in a row Thomas has worked hard in the offseason to transform his body and the results are in.

Check out Thomas working with trainer Casser Middleton with camp just 12 days away.

Thomas has ridden a proverbial rollercoaster since arriving on Clemson’s campus in 2018 as one of the nation’s top high school prospects. The South Carolina native earned freshman All-America that season following a 43-tackle, 3.5-sack campaign and followed it up with third-team all-ACC honors as a sophomore.

Then came a wave of setbacks. Complications from strep throat and COVID-19 led to Thomas playing just seven of the Tigers’ 12 games in 2020. Not feeling like himself, Thomas nearly walked away from football following that season but ultimately chose to stay on the team.

After working to get himself back into shape, Thomas said nobody had seen what he’s fully capable of, something he hoped to display during the 2022 season. But a broken foot in preseason camp cost him the first five games.

Thomas returned with a bang in Clemson’s win at Boston College in mid-October. The 6-foot-2, 255-pounder had two sacks and forced a fumble, earning ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors despite playing just six snaps. Thomas later reaggravated the injury, though, and had to have a second surgery, ending his season after just three games.