Thomas attended Clemson University from 2009 to 2013. He saw a lot of playing time at both guard and tackle during his career, and became the starting left tackle for the Tigers in 2012, where he started 26 games over his last two seasons. He was named a first-team All-ACC as a junior, and was a second-team All-ACC selection as a senior.
Professional career
On December 16, 2013, it was announced that Thomas had accepted his invitation to play in the 2014 Senior Bowl. On January 25, 2014, he played in the Reese's Senior Bowl, asapart of Atlanta Falcons' head coach Mike Smith's North team that lost 20-10 to the South. Thomas was one of 50 collegiate offensive linemen to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. He performed all of the combine drills and ran the ninth fastest 40-yard dash among all offensive linemen and had the fifth best vertical jump. On March 6, 2014, Thomas attended Clemson's pro day, along with Tajh Boyd, Martavis Bryant, Sammy Watkins, Tyler Shatley, Chandler Catanzaro, Bashaud Breeland, and eight others. He opted to perform positional drills and bested his combine numbers in the broad jump, short shuttle, and three-cone drill. On April 3, 2014, Thomas suffered a torn ACL while performing a non-contact drill at a private workout he was attending with the New Orleans Saints. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Thomas was projected by NFL draft experts and scouts to be a third to fifth round pick. He was ranked the tenth best offensive guard prospect in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers selected Thomas in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He was the eighth offensive guard and 22nd offensive linemen selected in 2014.
2014
On May 31, 2014, 49ers signed Thomas to a four-year, $2.72 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $506,016. Thomas spent the entire 2014 season on the reserve/non-football injury list due to the ACL injury suffered before the draft.
On August 29, 2016, the 49ers traded Thomas to the Detroit Lions in exchange for wide receiver Jeremy Kerley. On September 3, 2016, he was waived by the Lions and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Lions on January 9, 2017. On September 3, 2017, Thomas was waived by the Lions. He was signed to the practice squad on October 3, 2017. He was released on October 14, 2017.
Jacksonville Jaguars
On October 23, 2017, Thomas was signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars' practice squad. He was released on November 23, 2017, but was re-signed four days later. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Jaguars on January 22, 2018. On July 31, 2018, Thomas was waived/injured by the Jaguars and was placed on injured reserve. He was released on August 4, 2018. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 16, 2018. He was promoted to the active roster on December 22, 2018. On December 10, 2019, Thomas was placed on injured reserve.
Personal life
On January 9, 2011, Thomas was arrested for disorderly conduct in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina.
