Star Thomas

Senior running back for Tennessee. 2025: 596 rushing yards, 7 rushing TD, 11 catches.

RB · Tennessee · Sr. · #9

6′0″ · 210 lb · Homer, LA

CFB Index 61 · #66 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceReturning to Tennessee for 2026

The numbers

596

rushing yards · 2025

7 TD · 5.7 per carry · 11 catches

Backed by 12 car · 69 yds · 3 TD -- top 1% rushing TDs game. -- Best game: 69 rush yds, 3 TD, vs East Tennessee State

The play that turned itSwung Duke from 45% to 78% to win.SMU at Duke · 28-27

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for Tennessee. 2025: 596 rushing yards, 7 rushing TD, 11 catches.

Signed with New Mexico State in 2022.
Transferred from Duke to Tennessee in 2025.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Does a little of everything without one standout trait.

Explosive rate: 85th percentile.

The full scouting read

Star Thomas

RB · Tennessee · Sr · #9

Does a little of everything without one standout trait. Star Thomas has played for three head coaches across four seasons and three programs. His first career honor landed in 2023: All-Conference USA. The receipt: 92 rush yds, 7 rec yds against Syracuse — Week 1, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022New Mexico State7-6HC: Jerry Kill · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2023New Mexico State10-5HC: Jerry Kill · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2024Duke9-4HC: Manny Diaz · Pass-leaning

2025Tennessee8-5HC: Josh Heupel · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

61Quality starter #66 of 326?

High confidenceAscending12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (85th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#68 / 456 · 85th pct

9.8%

EPA / carry#113 / 456 · 75th pct

0.23

Yards / carry#126 / 456 · 72nd pct

5.6

Success rate#127 / 456 · 72nd pct

48.4%

TD rate#136 / 456 · 70th pct

3.9%

Box-score rates (7)

Rush TDs#62 / 349 · 80th pct

Yards / carry#68 / 349 · 79th pct

5.7

Rush yards#118 / 349 · 66th pct

596

Long run#136 / 349 · 61st pct

Rec yards#132 / 338 · 61st pct

116

Carries#154 / 349 · 56th pct

104

Receptions#179 / 338 · 45th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / carry

9th → 75th percentile

Success rate

15th → 72nd percentile

Explosive rate

36th → 85th percentile

Yards / carry

17th → 72nd percentile

TD rate

31st → 70th percentile

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

102 carries

10%

Stuffed (≤0)

44%

Grind (1–3)

30%

Chunk (4–9)

16%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home8g	41.9	4.5	0.6
Road5g	52.2	6.7	0.4

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	56.4	5.6	0.6
Weeks 8+6g	33.5	5.2	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Josh Heupel

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

61 · #66 of 326 RBs

Unranked recruit. Now #66 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-SEC

Based on 2025: #11 of 37 SEC RBs

How the All-SEC estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Tennessee	104	596	5.7	7	--
2024	Duke	213	871	4.1	7	--
2023	New Mexico State	112	653	5.8	4	--
2022	New Mexico State	108	524	4.9	5	--
Career		537	2,644	4.9	23	--

Season	Team
2025	Tennessee	11	116	10.5	2	--
2024	Duke	20	153	7.7	1	--
2023	New Mexico State	22	200	9.1	2	--
2022	New Mexico State	12	151	12.6	3	--
Career		65	620	9.5	8	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 72–17

vs East Tennessee State

69 rush yds (12 car) · 3 TD

Dominant 55-point win at home against East Tennessee State.

With J. Aguilar — 288 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 74.4 · J. Merklinger — 118 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 89.8 · 17 rush yds (2 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 13 · Florida · 3&17 · Q2 · EPA +5.79(09:57) Shotgun #9 S.Thomas rush right for 52 yards gain to the FLA01 (#28 D.Moore), 1ST DOWN. The previous play is under automatic review - "". CALL UPHELD
Week 5 · Mississippi State · 4&2 · Q2 · EPA +3.09Joey Aguilar pass complete to Star Thomas for 21 yds to the MSST 27 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · UAB · 3&6 · Q3 · EPA +3.07Joey Aguilar pass complete to Star Thomas for 17 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)
Week 12 · New Mexico State · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +2.89(10:51) No Huddle-Shotgun #9 S.Thomas rush right for 21 yards gain to the NMSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 10:46, 1ST DOWN #90 M.Gilbert kick attempt good (H: #98 J.Ross, LS: #48 B.Brady)
Week 1 · Syracuse · 3&7 · Q3 · EPA +2.88Joey Aguilar pass complete to Star Thomas for 7 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)
Week 2 · East Tennessee State · 2&6 · Q2 · EPA +2.54Star Thomas run for 7 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)
Week 2 · East Tennessee State · 2&2 · Q1 · EPA +2.07Star Thomas run for 2 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)
Week 2 · East Tennessee State · 2&2 · Q2 · EPA +2.07Star Thomas run for 2 yds for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)
Week 1 · Syracuse · 3&6 · Q4 · EPA +2.02Star Thomas run for 12 yds to the SYR 1 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · UAB · 2&1 · Q2 · EPA +1.90Star Thomas run for 1 yd for a TD (Max Gilbert KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 45-26vs Syracuse	12	92	7.7	0	22	Season-high 92 yds
Wk 2	W 72-17vs East Tennessee State	12	69	5.8	3	19	3 rushing TDs
Wk 3	L 41-44vs Georgia	9	60	6.7	0	27
Wk 4	W 56-24vs UAB	9	51	5.7	1	21
Wk 5	W 41-34@ Mississippi State	10	33	3.3	0	11
Wk 7	W 34-31vs Arkansas	10	23	2.3	0	9
Wk 8	L 20-37@ Alabama	3	26	8.7	0	19
Wk 9	W 56-34@ Kentucky	10	64	6.4	1	17
Wk 10	L 27-33vs Oklahoma	5	10	2.0	0	5
Wk 12	W 42-9vs New Mexico State	5	30	6.0	1	21
Wk 13	W 31-11@ Florida	9	71	7.9	1	52
Wk 14	L 24-45vs Vanderbilt	1	0	0.0	0	0
Bowl	L 28-30@ Illinois	9	67	7.4	0	21
Total		104	596	5.4	7	52

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

102Carries

575Yards

24.9%Top-5 share

9.8%Stuffed rate

Just 24.9% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 9.8% of his carries. 1 carry for 0 yds vs Vanderbilt; 12 for 92 vs Syracuse.

Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share

The closer

~ our read

22.1%Carry share

21.2%Q4-lead share

58.8%In competitive games

22.1% of carries overall (103/467) → 21.2% of Q4-with-lead carries (17/80) — 58.8% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

9/49Inside-5 share

9 of the team's 49 inside-the-5 carries (18.4%).

2026 Outlook

Tennessee

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Running back · Tennessee

Returning around him

35% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
5 Tennessee players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -8 net (21 in / 29 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Tennessee · Last season: 8-5 (AP #18) · Talent rank #13 · 2026 recruiting class #8

DNA match

Player DNA

Balanced Back

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

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Logan Diggs’s 2023 season.

Logan Diggs

81%match

LSU · 2023

George Holani

Boise State · 2023

76%

Kaytron Allen

Penn State · 2022

NFL Rd 6

76%

Camryn Edwards

UConn · 2024

73%

Devin Neal

Kansas · 2022

72%

Matches Logan on

Weight

Rush TD rate

Receiving share

Differs from Logan on

Height (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to George Holani's senior season at Boise State (2023).

George Holani

82%match

Boise State · 2023

All-Mountain West

Jase McClellan

Alabama · 2023

NFL Rd 6

77%

Chez Mellusi

Wisconsin · 2023

76%

Kentrel Bullock

South Alabama · 2024

All-Sun Belt

75%

Ty Son Lawton

Indiana · 2024

72%

Matches George on

Receiving share

Yards / reception

Total rush EPA (college ability)

Player DNA

Players who play like Star Thomas

Jordan Waters

NC State · 2024

81%

Bryson Donelson

Fresno State · 2025

78%

Coleman Bennett

Kennesaw State · 2025

77%

Kanye Roberts

App State · 2024

76%

Jordan Simmons

Akron · 2024

74%

Heisman trajectory

Heisman Trajectory · 2025

Peak #93

Final rank

#96

Avg #101.0

Finalist prob 0%

Peaked at #93 this season.

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Star Thomas

202213 games

202315 games

202412 games

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Back

Players who play like Star Thomas

Heisman trajectory

Peak #93