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Troup alum Jamari Thrash’s collegiate football career has reached its conclusion, but the former Georgia State Panther and Louisville Cardinal has an exciting next couple of months ahead of him as he has entered his name into the 2024 NFL Draft. The redshirt senior is foregoing his final year of college eligibility.  

“It was a pretty easy decision because I already knew what I wanted to do heading into Louisville,” Thrash said of his decision to turn pro. “After the season that we had, I kind of wanted to run it back one more time, but I kind of came here thinking I’m gonna just play my last year of college ball, so I stuck with it.”

Currently, Thrash is working out in Florida with XPE Sports as he works to get faster and stronger and potentially, raise his draft stock heading into the NFL draft. 

There are a couple of important steps for Thrash before the draft on April 25-27. Thrash will be taking part in the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL on Feb. 3 and the NFL Combine in Indianapolis on February 26 – March 4, 2024.

“I want to use these as an advantage to boost my draft stock,” Thrash said. “I know a lot of scouts are going to be at the Senior Bowl practice and the game itself and there will be even more at the combine.”

As of now, Thrash is pegged as a round 3-4 prospect heading into the Senior Bowl and combine. A strong combine and Senior Bowl showing could improve his stock even more, but Thrash is not focused on the outside noise, he is focused on getting better one day at a time. 

“I’m just taking it a day at a time and just be myself,” Thrash said. “My plan is to go out there and you know, dominate what I got to dominate to improve my stock.” 

Thrash spent just one season in Louisville, and it was a memorable one, despite the wideout dealing with a couple of nagging injuries. In his lone season with the Cardinals, Thrash caught 63 passes for 858 yards and had seven total touchdowns. He had his best game of the season with four receptions for 159 yards and a touchdown in the 21-14 win over Indiana. His 85-yard catch in that game was the second-longest pass play in the ACC this season, one yard behind the league leader.

Thrash was also named to the All-ACC second team, a year after making the All-Sun Belt first team in his final season with Georgia State. 

“It kind of gave me a sense of awareness where I am within college football,” he said. “It showed me you know where I was and where I needed to develop and you know what I needed to work on.”

The team success Louisville experienced during his one season in red and white was exactly why he transferred there in the first place. The Cardinals made it to their first-ever ACC Championship game, where they ultimately fell to Florida State 16-6.

Despite spending just a full year in Louisville, it felt like home for Thrash.

“If I was a year younger, I would definitely go back and play another year,” he said. “It reminds me so much of LaGrange, so it wasn’t really too hard for me to fit in and you know, to adapt to that community in that area.”

It was a steady rise from Thrash during his time at Georgia State. He looked anything but an NFL prospect during his freshman year but left the school as one of the most accomplished players in program history. Thrash played in just three games, catching two passes for 17 yards as a true freshman. He became more involved as a redshirt freshman and redshirt sophomore, but his junior year was special. Thrash caught 61 passes for 1,122 yards and seven touchdowns which was more receptions, yards and touchdowns than in his first three seasons combined.

Thrash believes this breakout season put him on the NFL radar and gave him the belief that he had what it takes to play at the next level.

“I was gonna declare after that year, but I just wanted to come back one more year and give my body time to develop for the NFL and give my mind time to grow a little bit more,” he said. “And that’s kind of why I went to the ACC to play in that Jeff Brohm system.”

Before taking his talents to Atlanta and Louisville, Thrash made his name in the blue and gold of Troup High until graduating in 2019. During his time as a Tiger, Thrash had 134 receptions for 2,839 yards and 31 touchdowns. Thrash earned first-team all-state honors in Class AAAA from both the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Georgia Sportswriters Association

Troup coach Tanner Glisson made a strong impression on a young Thrash and the two remain in contact to this day.

“He told me he was proud of me and that he wanted to see me succeed in life, not only on the field,” Trash said. 

It is a big couple of months for Thrash and eyes in Troup County will be glued to their TV screens during the draft to see where one of their own ends up.