Julius Thomas is on the fast track.
It’s too early in his NFL career with the Broncos to say where the track will lead, but the possibilities are wide open as he continues his development into one of the league’s best pass-catching tight ends.
The next stop is Sunday’s AFC championship game against New England. Thomas had a huge role in getting the Broncos this far in the playoffs. With Denver nursing a seven-point lead against San Diego last Sunday and trying to run the last 3:53 off the clock, quarterback Peyton Manning and Thomas teamed up on a clutch pass play that has become the talk of the postseason. It was third-and-17, the Broncos were deep in their territory, and San Diego was on the verge of a historic comeback.
“Sometimes you just see the ball floating in the air and you’re like, ‘I’m out here all by myself.’ A lot of things go through your head,” Thomas said. “You’re trying to get leverage on a defender or get a guy off you. You focus on your technique, getting two hands on the ball and trying to make sure you get both feet down in bounds.”
Three plays later, Thomas caught a third-and-7 pass for a game-clinching first down that allowed the Broncos to run out the clock.
“Sometimes I have to remind myself that he hasn’t played a ton of football,” Manning said of Thomas. “You can tell that (offensive coordinator) Adam Gase believes in him. You certainly know that I believe in him. He has answered the bell each week. He’s going to be an outstanding player in this league for a long, long time.”
Thomas, a third-year pro, said members of the Broncos’ passing game believe in each other.
“I think he just takes what the defense gives him,” Thomas said of Manning. “It’s extremely tough for a team to have every single person on offense covered. He’s going to look for the guy that’s open and he’s going to read the defense, and that’s what allows him to distribute the ball so well.”
Wide receiver Eric Decker said members of the Broncos’ offense complement each other.
“Across the board there are so many weapons, whether it’s receivers, running backs or tight ends,” Decker said. “Everyone has a different skill set and they do it well. When defenses try to take away a couple of us, the other guys step up, and that’s what is so great about this team. For us, it’s being in the right position because 18 (Manning) is going to get us the ball.”
Denver’s record-setting offense dished out at least 65 catches this season to Decker, Demaryius Thomas, Wes Welker and Julius Thomas, and all four had at least 10 touchdown receptions.
“I think he has grown week to week throughout the season,” Broncos coach John Fox said of Julius Thomas. “He wasn’t exactly a household name to start the season, and he has worked very hard to earn the trust of his teammates. There has been some classic tight ends in this league. It’s kind of a unique position because you have to block and be a receiver. That’s a unique physical body to find, with that athleticism. I think they’re hard to find.”
Thomas has been found. He’s all football now, but he remembers when he was a 6-foot-5, 215-pound basketball player at Portland State who decided to give football a try.
“I could jump off the ground and hang in the air for a while,” he said. “I’m definitely a football player that gets to play basketball every blue moon in the offseason.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296, imoss@denverpost.com or twitter.com/irvmoss