NFL Draft: Jamari Thrash ready for next challenge after handling step up to Louisville

BEREA — Jamari Thrash is not afraid of a challenge — and he loves to learn.After a standout career at Georgia State, Thrash transferred to Louisville and played under coach Jeff Brohm to better prepare himself for the next phase of his career. Now, Thrash is focused on embracing anything that comes his way after being selected by the Browns in the fifth round of the NFL Draft on Saturday.NFL Draft: Michael Hall Jr., Zak Zinter transform from 'enemies in college' to 'brothers' in search of a Super Bowl"Just being in Coach Brohm's offense, knowing that he runs a pro-style offense, I knew that he was going to get me, I don't want to say a leg up, but he was going to give me opportunity to learn NFL offenses," Thrash said on a conference call after being drafted."I was able to go against ACC defenses. They were ACC defenses that were NFL defenses, so just being in the ACC and going against different competition and playing with Brohm, it also helped me a lot to mature and pick up on a lot of things heading into my NFL career."In four years at Georgia State, Thrash had 104 catches for 1,752 yards and 12 touchdowns. During the 2022 season, he caught 61 passes for 1,122 yards and seven touchdowns, which earned him All-Sun Belt Conference and All-American honors.NFL Draft Analysis: Browns' selections about future, adding depth at key positionsAt Louisville, Thrash had a career-best 63 receptions and hauled in six touchdowns."We view him as a guy that can play inside and outside," said Daniel Saganey, the Browns' director of player personnel. "He had a really productive college career at Georgia State, and then decided to transfer up to Louisville last year and had another big year there."A guy with speed, a guy that showed up really well through the Senior Bowl process. We really enjoyed getting to know him through our spring scouting process. With these picks at this time of the draft, we're really looking to find players that we're looking forward to developing, having our coaches get their hands on him and see what they can do. He's a competitive kid. He's had production inside and out throughout his college career, and he's a good playmaker with the ball in his hands, so add him to the room and let him compete."NFL Draft: Meet the Browns' picksThrash did not just take on the challenge of learning a new offense in short order in his only season at Louisville. In addition to the new system, Thrash played with a surgically repaired broken hand."It definitely slowed me down a little bit toward the second half of the season, but just knowing what we had to do and seeing where we were at in the standings, I knew that going to the ACC championship was something that was big for us," Thrash said."I know what type of player I am and type of teammate that I am, so I didn't mind playing with a broken hand or a broken wrist or a broken finger. Just knowing me as a player and just knowing that my team needs me on the field each game really just did a lot to me. Just knowing that they needed me, I don't mind going all out for my teammates.""Going all out" at the NFL level may require Thrash to compete on special teams, where his experience is limited to being a gunner on punt coverage at Louisville and some work in high school.Also, joining an experienced receivers room featuring Amari Cooper, Jerry Jeudy and Elijah Moore will give Thrash an opportunity to learn from premiere players at his position."I can't wait," Thrash said. "Amari's doing a good job. He's always been consistent. He was one of my favorite receivers when he was at 'Bama, so just being in that room with him and Jeudy and Elijah Moore, just being in the room with those guys, I know I can just learn a lot. I can't wait. I can't wait to get into that room with those guys."The post NFL Draft: Jamari Thrash ready for next challenge after handling step up to Louisville first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.