Ky Thomas

Former running back at Kent State. 2024: 550 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 10 catches.

RB · Kent State · Fr. · #3

5′11″ · 200 lb · Topeka, KS

CFB Index 31 · #293 of 310 RBsHigh confidenceKent State 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

4★

RB recruit

No. 407 nationally · Signed with Minnesota

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former running back at Kent State. 2024: 550 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD, 10 catches.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Minnesota in 2020.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Kent State, 1,536 rushing yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2020

Signed with Minnesota4-star out of Topeka

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#407 national

CFB

College

3 teams

2021–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2021–2024

2 coaches

2021–2022

Sean Lewis

Kent State

2024

Kenni Burns

Kent State

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Sean Lewis → Kenni Burns. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Minnesota9-4HC: P.J. Fleck · Run-heavy

2022Kansas6-7HC: Lance Leipold · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2024Kent State0-12HC: Kenni Burns · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

31Below cohort / limited sample #293 of 310?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: success rate (6th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#263 / 442 · 40th pct

6.0%

Yards / carry#326 / 442 · 26th pct

4.5

EPA / carry#402 / 442 · 9th pct

-0.05

Success rate#417 / 442 · 6th pct

33.1%

TD rate#417 / 442 · 6th pct

0.8%

Box-score rates (8)

Carries#103 / 335 · 69th pct

135

Rush yards#147 / 335 · 56th pct

550

Receptions#187 / 330 · 42nd pct

Long run#205 / 335 · 38th pct

Rec yards#226 / 330 · 31st pct

Yards / carry#273 / 335 · 17th pct

4.1

Fumbles lost#157 / 204 · 15th pct

Rush TDs#272 / 335 · 13th pct

Season trend

EPA / carry— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Yards / carry— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Situational

Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

133 carries

23%

Stuffed (≤0)

36%

Grind (1–3)

27%

Chunk (4–9)

14%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home5g	48.6	4.1	0.2
Road6g	51.2	4.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	34.5	3.5	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	68.6	4.8	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Mark Carney

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

31 · #293 of 310 RBs

Former four-star. Now #293 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Kent State	135	550	4.1	1	--
2022	Kansas	53	162	3.1	2	--
2021	Minnesota	166	824	5.0	6	--
Career		354	1,536	4.3	9	--

Season	Team
2024	Kent State	10	53	5.3	0	--
2022	Kansas	5	39	7.8	1	--
2021	Minnesota	6	44	7.3	0	--
Career		21	136	6.5	1	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 11 · Ohio · 3&15 · Q2 · EPA +2.63Ky Thomas run for 20 yds to the KENT 41 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Ohio · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA +2.26Ruel Tomlinson pass complete to Ky Thomas for 9 yds to the KENT 42 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Bowling Green · 1&5 · Q1 · EPA +2.22Ky Thomas run for 38 yds to the BGSU 41 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Western Michigan · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA -2.00Ky Thomas run for a loss of 2 yards to the WMU 44 Ky Thomas fumbled, recovered by WMU Jacob Wahlberg J. Wahlberg return for 0 yds
Week 2 · Saint Francis · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.99Devin Kargman pass complete to Ky Thomas for 10 yds to the SFPA 46 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Akron · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +1.97Ky Thomas run for 15 yds to the KENT 42 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Eastern Michigan · 2&7 · Q2 · EPA +1.84Ky Thomas run for 14 yds to the EMU 43 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Bowling Green · 3&6 · Q2 · EPA +1.73Ky Thomas run for 8 yds to the BGSU 33 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Pittsburgh · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA -1.72Ky Thomas run for a loss of 6 yards to the KENT 29
Week 7 · Ball State · 1&4 · Q3 · EPA +1.69Ky Thomas run for 4 yds for a TD (Will Hryszko KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 24-55@ Pittsburgh	18	40	2.2	0	9
Wk 2	L 17-23vs Saint Francis	11	39	3.5	0	32
Wk 3	L 0-71@ Tennessee	7	10	1.4	0	3
Wk 4	L 0-56@ Penn State	4	16	4.0	0	6
Wk 5	L 33-52vs Eastern Michigan	6	35	5.8	0	14
Wk 7	L 35-37vs Ball State	17	67	3.9	1	24
Wk 8	L 6-27@ Bowling Green	14	121	8.6	0	38	Season-high 121 yds
Wk 9	L 21-52@ Western Michigan	15	62	4.1	0	16
Wk 11	L 0-41vs Ohio	15	50	3.3	0	20
Wk 12	L 7-34@ Miami (OH)	15	58	3.9	0	13
Wk 13	L 17-38vs Akron	13	52	4.0	0	15
Total		135	550	4.1	1	38

How he plays

Play style

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Steady, not spectacular

~ our read

133Carries

605Yards

22.5%Top-5 share

22.6%Stuffed rate

Just 22.5% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 22.6% of his carries. 7 carries for 14 yds vs Tennessee; 14 for 121 vs Bowling Green.