Unhappy that DJ Thomas-Jones didn’t get all-conference recognition on the top three teams last season, his former teammates at South Alabama gave him a nice consolation prize.
The 6-foot-2, 256-pound fullback had returned to school after NFL Draft preparations and was working out in the weight room this spring when he was presented with an award:
First-team all-violence.
“I didn’t make first team in the conference,” Thomas-Jones said. “I got honorable mention, but I felt like nobody played with as much passion and violence as I did, so they gave me that. They gave me a plaque.”
While Thomas-Jones lacked the accolades in the Sun Belt Conference and wasn’t among the 257 players selected in the draft, he did enough on the field in college for the Steelers to sign him as an undrafted free agent. They gave him a $30,000 signing bonus that was the team’s largest ever given to a non-quarterback rookie free agent.
This summer, when the Steelers report to training camp, the team will get to see if that “all-violence” moniker is legit. No hitting was permitted when Thomas-Jones joined 14 other rookies for their minicamp last weekend, and the pads will remain in storage during organized team activities that begin at the end of the month.
“I give it my all,” Thomas-Jones said at rookie minicamp when asked about the mentality he brings to the Steelers. “You can’t always tell the outcome, but I’m always going to give my 110% every time. That is where my head is.”
Thomas-Jones will have his work cut out for him. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has compared the fullback as a position to a “disappearing animal” in the NFL. The Steelers didn’t have a fullback on the roster and rarely used one in Derek Watt’s three years with the organization.
Still, given the size of the signing bonus, the Steelers were intrigued enough by Thomas-Jones to give him an offseason roster spot. According to Thomas-Jones, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith championed his cause.
“I came here because of my talk with coach Smith,” Thomas-Jones said. “He really had a plan for me. I loved his personality and how he was as a person. He was straight with me. He told me that basically this was home. … That was one of my main reasons (for coming to the Steelers). His influence and power. I just really wanted to be coached by him.”
Smith has a history of deploying a fullback in his offense even if it didn’t manifest itself last season. The Steelers used a two-back formation on just 3% of offensive snaps. On the other hand, the Steelers used a three-tight end set 15% of the snaps, the highest percentage in the NFL.
At South Alabama, Thomas-Jones had a history of playing in space, and he is two inches taller and 26 pounds heavier than Connor Heyward, who has been used as an H-back, fullback and third tight end in his three NFL seasons.
Thomas-Jones also was adept at blocking, helping pave the way for South Alabama to average 193 rushing yards last season. The Jaguars’ 5.6 yards per carry led the Sun Belt Conference.
“I have versatility,” Thomas-Jones said. “I’m not singled to one position, to one space. I feel like I can do a little bit of everything.”
Thomas-Jones totaled 69 receptions in 36 career games, and that included 11 receiving touchdowns. In 2024, he finished with 22 catches for 191 yards and three scores while starting all 13 games.
“There usually is an element of their game that is varsity,” Tomlin said about undrafted free agents in general. “If you go undrafted, there are components of your game that certainly need work. Those that make it usually have an element of their game that is ready, and they find ways to lean on that and minimize some of the (other) things or work on things that aren’t.
“That’s probably the common bond. They usually have ‘a’ trait, and that trait shows up rather consistently.”
One trait Thomas-Jones lacked in college was carrying the football. He had just one career carry in three seasons, and that happened in 2022
