Peyton Manning's Shadow the Reason Julius Thomas Left Denver?

When Julius Thomas left the Denver Broncos for the Jacksonville Jaguars plenty of people voiced their opinion as to why he would leave a perennial contender for one of the worst teams in the NFL. On the surface it would appear to be all about the money. Thomas wanted to be paid like one of the top tight ends in the league and the Broncos didn't want to spend that much on a guy with injury issues.

Jacksonville was, but according to Julius leaving Denver and moving to Jacksonville wasn't about the money at all.

via Reddit

It was about moving out of the shadow of one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, Peyton Manning. Prior to Manning's arrival in Denver Thomas had only one reception in two seasons. With Peyton he had 108 receptions and 24 touchdowns. So if there was ever anyone whose success could be credited to his quarterback it is Thomas.

It would be foolish to give all the credit to Manning of course, but Thomas does recognize how much Manning helped his game:

“Peyton does deserve his credit,” Thomas said in an interview after signing with the Jaguars. “He’s taught me a lot about football. He helped me see the game in a more cerebral sense, and for that I’m truly grateful for him. I’m also very confident I’ll be able to make big plays here with (quarterback) Blake (Bortles)...."

While he didn't come outright and say Peyton's shadow was part of the reason he left Denver, he alluded to that possibility with another comment:

"...Sometimes you have to step out of someone else’s shadow and step out on your own. I’m excited and I’m looking forward to it.”

So it sounds like escaping Peyton's shadow was part of the reason, but he was not foolish enough to go to a team with no talent at QB. Bortles was the first quarterback taken in the '14 draft and Jaguars fans are hoping he is the man of the future for the quarterback hungry club. He certainly showed some promise last season, but did not have too many weapons to work with. This off-season the team is doing what it can to change that.

[Jaguars.com]

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