Azareye’h Thomas’ NFL comparison raises red flags for Jets fans

Azareye’h Thomas certainly looks the part of an NFL cornerback. At 6-foot-2, nearly 200 pounds, and with long arms and ample toughness, the Jets’ third-round pick has the kind of physical profile that teams dream about when drafting developmental boundary corners.

That physical profile is exactly what caught the attention of Bleacher Report’s Cory Giddings, who likened Thomas to former Washington Commanders cornerback Benjamin St-Juste in his pre-draft scouting report.

It’s not exactly the most inspiring comparison. St-Juste, a fellow third-round pick, entered the league with similar size and traits, but struggled with consistency, penalties, and ball skills before fizzling out in Washington.

The Jets are banking on Thomas reaching a much higher ceiling, but the parallels are notable. This is the latest installment in our series diving into the NFL comparisons for each of the Jets’ 2025 draft picks.

Azareye'h Thomas' NFL comparison is Benjamin St-Juste

St-Juste entered the NFL in 2021 as the 74th overall pick, just one spot after where Thomas was selected by the Jets this past spring. The now-former Commanders cornerback shared a similar pre-draft profile to Thomas, but his career to this point has failed to meet expectations.

St-Juste has started 45 games in the NFL, including 42 over the last three seasons, but consistency has been a major issue. Despite flashing at times, he was benched late in 2024 after struggling mightily, allowing the third-most catches in the NFL in 2023 and drawing a whopping 20 penalties over the last two years.

His Pro Football Focus grade fell to a career-low 47.7 in 2024, ranking 112th out of 116 qualified cornerbacks. The similarities between Thomas and St-Juste don’t end with size and inconsistency.

Both players tested poorly in the pre-draft process, with St-Juste running a 4.55 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine and Thomas clocking in at 4.58 at his pro day.

While each player possesses excellent length and physicality, they both tend to be overly grabby in coverage and have struggled with ball skills. St-Juste has just one career interception in four seasons, and Thomas managed only two during his three years at Florida State.

Of course, the Jets hope that Thomas develops into a more polished version of what St-Juste, who signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Los Angeles Chargers this offseason, could have been.

The team envisions Thomas as a long-term project with clear upside. He's someone who can eventually push for a starting role once he cleans up his technique and learns to play with more discipline.

For now, Thomas is buried on the depth chart behind Sauce Gardner and Brandon Stephens, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see him push the latter for a starting job sooner rather than later. Stephens had his own struggles before signing with the Jets this offseason.

This wasn’t a pick made out of necessity. With Gardner and Stephens locked in as starters, the Jets weren’t exactly desperate for cornerback help. But Thomas was viewed by many as a top-50 talent, and the Jets didn’t expect him to be on the board at No. 73.

When he was, they pounced. Now they’ll hope he develops into a more refined version of the cornerback he’s been compared to.

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