The first year of Xavier Thomas’s professional career is in the books.
The former Clemson star edge rusher finished his rookie season with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday in the final week of the NFL regular season, when he registered a tackle during the Cardinals’ 47-24 home win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Thomas played in 14 games over his first NFL campaign, posting 10 tackles (2.0 for loss), 2.5 sacks, four quarterback hits, a forced fumble and a pass defended.
One of the most memorable moments of Thomas’ rookie season occurred in Week 10, when he made a big-time play against a future Hall of Famer. The 6-foot-2, 244-pounder provided one of the highlights of the Cardinals’ 31-6 home win over the New York Jets, when he strip-sacked Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers on fourth down in the red zone.
That play came a week after Thomas was credited with 1.5 sacks – the first sacks of his young NFL career — in the Cardinals’ Week 9 win over the Chicago Bears.
On Sunday, Thomas took to social media and shared a message after wrapping up his first year in the league:
Rookie Year Complete✅✅ Fully healthy, Thank You God. So much work to do. See y’all Year 2
— Xavier Thomas (@atxlete) January 6, 2025
Thomas, who was selected by Arizona in the fifth round (138th overall) of the 2024 NFL Draft, has had a long journey to where he is now.
An explosive talent who earned near-unanimous freshman All-American honors at Clemson in 2018, Thomas is a story of perseverance.
The former five-star prospect and top-five overall national recruit has spoken openly about battling depression, COVID-19 and injuries over the course of his Clemson career, during which he overcame plenty of adversity to become a valued veteran leader and impact player.
During a productive sixth and final season at Clemson in 2023, Thomas tallied 28 tackles (4.0 for loss), 3.0 sacks, four pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to go with a team-high 21 quarterback pressures over 12 games (11 starts).
A two-time All-ACC selection (2019, 2021), Thomas was credited with 133 tackles (34.0 for loss), nine pass breakups, six forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries over 61 games (30 starts) in his Tiger career from 2018-23. He left Clemson as one of nine players in school history – and one of four defensive players — to play in 60 career games with the Tigers.