Senior defensive lineman for Southern Miss. 2025: 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 6 tackles.
6′3″ · 280 lb · Pensacola, FL
The numbers
sack · 2025
1 TFL · 6 tackles · 1 hurries
Best game: 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 3 tackles, vs App State
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 defensive lineman for Southern Miss. 2025: 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 6 tackles.
Eric Thomas Jr.
Across six seasons and two programs, four head coaches: Sam Pittman, Will Hall, Reed Stringer and Charles Huff. One game to point at: 3 tackles, 1 sacks against App State — Week 3, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
4 coachesPlayed under 4 different head coaches: Scotty Walden, Will Hall, Reed Stringer, and Charles Huff. Multi-era developmental context.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Blake Anderson
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2025
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Southern Miss | 6 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Southern Miss | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Southern Miss | 7 | 3 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Arkansas | 2 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2021 | Arkansas | 5 | -- | 0.5 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2020 | Arkansas | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 28 | 13 | 5.5 | 3.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 5 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 | W 38-22vs App State | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 5 | W 42-25vs Jacksonville State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 49-21vs UL Monroe | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 14-41vs Texas State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | L 16-27vs Western Kentucky | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 |
2026 Outlook
Southern Miss
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive line · Southern Miss
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Southern Miss · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #94 · 2026 recruiting class #108
26 more on the roster · Southern Miss team page