NASHVILLE, Tenn. — NFL veteran Logan Thomas certainly isn’t new to football, but the 49ers’ newest member took advantage of George Kittle’s Tight End University to assist his acclimation to coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
“I think you can get a lot out of it,” Thomas told NBC Sports Bay Area of TEU. “Simply because I’m new to the team and the stuff that George is teaching and talking through is stuff I need to hear and stuff I need to learn from. So, I’m able to absorb it and take it to my training, [then] when I go into camp, I’m not real behind.”
Thomas, 32, spent the past four seasons with the Washington Commanders after being drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in 2014 and also spending time with the Buffalo Bills, and Detroit Lions. The Virginia Tech product’s best statistical season came in 2020, when he made 72 receptions for 670 yards and six touchdowns.
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Thomas, who signed a one-year contract earlier this month, has been on the field with his new team for just a few practices during OTAs and minicamp, but he’s impressed by what he has seen from 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
“He’s great, man,” Thomas said of Purdy. “He’s always locked in. That was my first time out there with him, but he seems to be intense. He’s on his Ps and Qs, and that’s what you want most out of your quarterback.
"He’s played a lot of football. He understands what he wants, and he understands what it’s supposed to look like. For him to assert himself in that way, that’s what going to make the team that much better.”
Thomas could add a receiving element that previously had been held by Kittle alone in San Francisco’s tight ends room. A timely adjustment to Shanahan’s scheme only will help, and the savvy vet was seen working with Kittle and position coach Brian Fleury 1-on-1 while at minicamp.
San Francisco 49ers
“It’s very different,” Thomas said of the 49ers’ offense. “They teach it differently, they expect more and different things from you, which I’m excited about. They’ve had a track record of good tight ends, and I’m just hoping to add to it and enjoying just being a part of a new room.”