The Wolverine continues its series of the top 25 Michigan players since 1997 with No. 9, Anthony Thomas.
After a freshman year in which Thomas was the No. 2 running back on the 1997 National Championship team, he went on to become one of the best running backs to ever play for the Wolverines.
Thomas joined the Wolverines after a high school career at Winnfield (La.) Senior High. In total, Thomas rushed for 7,594 yards and a then state record 106 rushing touchdowns during his high school career. Thomas was also the place kicker on his high school team, and was named an All-American at running back and the No. 2 back in the country by Prep Football Report.
In his freshman year, Thomas was behind Chris Howard on the depth chart, but still managed to rush for over 100 yards in two games and totaled 549 yards on the season. Following the 1997 campaign, Thomas was named Big Ten Freshman of the year by both the coaches and media.
For the next three seasons, Thomas led the team in rushing each year. Each of those three seasons, Michigan finished in the top-three in the conference, with a No. 5 national ranking in 1999 and a Big Ten Conference Championship in 2000, the year Thomas rushed for the second most yards in a single season in school history, with 1,733 yards. His final season with the Wolverines ended with a 31-28 Citrus Bowl victory over Auburn.
After the 2000 season, Thomas was named first team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media, and finished his career as the school's rushing leader with 4,472 yards, though that is now No. 3 on the team list behind Mike Hart and Denard Robinson. Thomas had 22 games of at least 100 rushing yards in his Michigan career and has the most receiving yards by a running back with 810. He is also the team's career rushing touchdown's leader with 55 in his career as a Wolverine.
Thomas entered the 2001 NFL Draft and was selected in the second round by the Chicago Bears. As a rookie he rushed for 1,183 yards and helped the Bears to a 13-3 record. He was named the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year following the 2001 season. Thomas was the lead back for the Bears for two more seasons before losing the starting job and signing with the Dallas Cowboys in 2005. He played the final two seasons with the Buffalo Bills.
The full list:
No. 10: Leon Hall
No. 11: Chad Henne
No. 14: Denard Robinson
No. 15: Marlin Jackson
No. 16: Glen Steele
No. 17: David Baas
No. 18: Jourdan Lewis
No. 19: David Harris
No. 20: Ernest Shazor
No. 21: John Navarre
No. 22: Jake Butt
No. 23: David Molk
No. 24: Taco Charlton
No. 25: Jeremy Gallon
