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Clayton Thorson

Clayton James Thorson (born June 15, 1995) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft. He played college football at Northwestern.

Clayton Thorson
refer to caption
Thorson playing with the Northwestern Wildcats in 2018
Personal information
Born: (1995-06-15) June 15, 1995 (age 29)
Wheaton, Illinois, U.S.
Height:6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:222 lb (101 kg)
Career information
High school:Wheaton North
(Wheaton, Illinois)
College:Northwestern (2014–2018)
Position:Quarterback
NFL draft:2019 / round: 5 / pick: 167
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career USFL statistics
Passing attempts:149
Passing completions:85
Completion percentage:57.0
TD–INT:10-7
Passing yards:987
QBR:80.0
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Early life

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Thorson attended Wheaton North High School in Wheaton, Illinois. As a senior, he had 2,809 passing yards, 29 passing touchdowns, 630 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns. He received all-area, all-conference and all-state honors.

In the playoffs against Fenwick High School, he guided his team to a 32–31 win, after coming back from a 6–31 second-quarter deficit, by tallying 413 passing yards and 5 touchdowns. He led his team to back-to-back state quarterfinals in his last two years. He was named MVP in Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl.[1]

College career

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Thorson accepted a football scholarship from Northwestern University.[2][3] As a redshirt freshman in 2015, he took over the starting quarterback job that was left open after Trevor Siemian graduated.[4][5] He completed 150 of 295 passes for 1,522 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 397 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns.[6][7] He became the first quarterback in school history to have 10 wins as a freshman and in his first season as a starter.

As a sophomore in 2016, the team lost its first two games against Western Michigan University and Illinois State University. He completed 280-of-478 passes for 3,182 yards (school record for sophomores), 22 passing touchdowns (school record), 5 rushing touchdowns (second on the team) and 5 interceptions.[8] He had career-high 352 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns in a 45–17 win against Purdue University.

As a junior in 2017, he posted 2,844 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 8 rushing touchdowns (second on the team) and 12 interceptions. He tore his right ACL in the 2017 Music City Bowl against the University of Kentucky, while making a reception on a trick play.[9]

As a senior in 2018, he was limited by his previous right knee injury, coming back with less than 8 months of recovery. On November 10, Thorson led the Cats to a 14–10 victory over the No. 21 ranked University of Iowa, earning Northwestern the 2018 Big Ten Conference West title.[10] He finished with 3,183 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 15 interceptions and 9 rushing touchdowns (led the team).

His 53 consecutive starts at quarterback is the most ever in the Big Ten and tied for the most with Colt McCoy in all of the Power Five conferences,[citation needed] and over those 4 years Clayton set several Northwestern career records including wins (35), passing yards (10,731), completions (991) and passing touchdowns (61). He is the only quarterback in Big Ten history to pass for 10,000 yards and rush for 20 touchdowns in his career.[11]

College statistics

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Northwestern Wildcats
Season Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg Lng TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg Lng TD
2014 0 0 — Redshirt
2015 13 13 10–3 150 295 50.8 1,522 5.2 66 7 9 95.9 100 397 4.0 68 5
2016 13 13 7–6 280 478 58.6 3,182 6.7 58 22 9 125.9 97 98 1.0 42 5
2017 13 13 10–3 262 434 60.4 2,844 6.6 58 15 12 121.3 87 23 0.3 21 8
2018 14 14 9–5 299 489 61.1 3,183 6.5 62 17 15 121.2 78 -110 -1.4 23 9
Career[12] 53 53 36–17 991 1,696 58.4 10,731 6.3 66 61 45 118.1 362 408 1.1 68 27

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span Wonderlic
6 ft 4 in
(1.93 m) 		222 lb
(101 kg) 		31+1⁄8 in
(0.79 m) 		9+3⁄4 in
(0.25 m)		 32[13]
All values from NFL Combine[14][15]

Philadelphia Eagles

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Thorson was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round (167th overall) of the 2019 NFL draft.[16] He was waived during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.[17]

Dallas Cowboys

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On September 1, 2019, Thorson was signed to the practice squad of the Dallas Cowboys.[18] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Cowboys on December 31, 2019. He was waived on September 2, 2020.[19]

New York Giants

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On September 29, 2020, Thorson was signed to the New York Giants' practice squad.[20] The signing reunited him with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who was his head coach with the Cowboys. He was elevated to the active roster on December 5 and 19 for the team's weeks 13 and 15 games against the Seattle Seahawks and Cleveland Browns, and reverted to the practice squad after each game.[21][22] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 4, 2021.[23]

On August 16, 2021, Thorson was waived/injured by the Giants and placed on injured reserve.[24] He was released on August 25. On December 7, 2021, Thorson signed to the Giants practice squad[25] and was released on December 14.[26] On January 8, 2022, Thorson was signed back to the practice squad. His contract expired when the team's season ended on January 9, 2022.

Houston Gamblers

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On February 22, 2022, Thorson was selected by the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL) in the 2022 USFL draft.[27] He was named the team's starting quarterback, even though he showed inconsistent play in the first two contests, while throwing 4 interceptions. On June 2, he was transferred to the inactive/injured reserve roster with an elbow injury.[28] He started in the first seven games of the season, completing 57% of his passes for 987 yards, 10 passing touchdowns, 71 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown and 7 interceptions. At the time of his injury, he was the league's leader in passing touchdowns. He was replaced with Kenji Bahar. On January 5, 2023, Thorson was released by the Gamblers.[29]

Professional statistics

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USFL statistics
Year Team Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
2022 HOU 7 7 85 149 57.0 987 6.6 10 7 80.0 14 66 4.7 1

Personal life

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Thorson and his wife, Audrey, have been married since June 2018.[30][31]

References

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  1. ^ Narang, Bob (January 14, 2014). "Wheaton North quarterback Clayton Thorson named MVP of Semper Fidelis All-American Bowl". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Greenstein, Teddy (February 4, 2014). "Clayton Thorson heads Northwestern signing class". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  3. ^ McGraw, Mike (September 30, 2015). "Calm, collected Thorson ready to go for Northwestern". Daily Herald. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  4. ^ "Clayton Thorson named Northwestern starter". Sports Illustrated. August 27, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  5. ^ Mitchell, Fred (September 3, 2015). "Northwestern's Clayton Thorson has shown resolve on road to starting QB job". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  6. ^ Duber, Vinnie (August 15, 2016). "Big Ten preview: In Year 2 as starter, Clayton Thorson looks to improve Cats' passing game". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  7. ^ Haugh, David (August 23, 2016). "Clayton Thorson returns to Northwestern with more bite to his game". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  8. ^ Bennett, Brian (March 28, 2017). "What is Northwestern's Clayton Thorson working on in spring practice?". ESPN. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  9. ^ Greenstein, Teddy (July 2, 2018). "QB Thorson aiming to be ready for Wildcats' opener". saukvalley.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  10. ^ "Northwestern football headed to first ever Big Ten Championship game". The Daily Northwestern=November 10, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  11. ^ Spadaro, Dave. "Clayton Thorson out to win a spot in Eagles' QB room". philadelphiaeagles.com. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  12. ^ "Clayton Thorson stats". www.sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  13. ^ "Report: Wonderlic scores for top 2019 NFL Draft prospects leaked". 247sports.com. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  14. ^ "Clayton Thorson Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  15. ^ "2019 Draft Scout Clayton Thorson, Northwestern NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  16. ^ Teope, Herbie (April 27, 2019). "Eagles select QB Clayton Thorson with No. 167 pick". NFL.com. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  17. ^ "Eagles announce roster moves as team gets to 53-player limit". PhiladelphiaEagles.com. August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  18. ^ Gallen, Daniel. "Philadelphia Eagles practice squad updates: Former Giants quarterback joins Eagles; Clayton Thorson joins Cowboys". Penn Live. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  19. ^ Gantt, Darin (September 2, 2020). "Cowboys releasing quarterback Clayton Thorson". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  20. ^ "RB Alfred Morris and QB Clayton Thorson added to practice squad; DB Madre Harper intends to sign Thursday". Giants.com. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  21. ^ Eisen, Michael (December 5, 2020). "Giants elevate DE Niko Lalos, QB Clayton Thorson; sign QB Alex Tanney to practice squad". Giants.com. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  22. ^ Eisen, Michael (December 19, 2020). "Roster moves: Giants add two quarterbacks, three DBs to active roster". Giants.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  23. ^ Eisen, Michael (January 4, 2021). "Giants sign 2 free agents to renegotiated contracts; 13 players to reserve/future contracts". Giants.com.
  24. ^ Eisen, Michael (August 16, 2021). "Giants sign QB Brian Lewerke; Clayton Thorson waived/injured". Giants.com.
  25. ^ Benton, Dan (December 7, 2021). "Giants sign QB Clayton Thorson to practice squad". Giantswire.com.
  26. ^ Benton, Dan (December 15, 2021). "Giants sign Woodrow Hamilton to practice squad, protect four". Giantswire.com.
  27. ^ "USFL Draft 2022: Houston Gamblers take QB Clayton Thorson". Fox Sports. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  28. ^ @USFLGamblers (June 2, 2022). "Roster Updates" (Tweet). Retrieved June 3, 2022 – via Twitter.
  29. ^ @Newsusfl (January 5, 2023). "Michigan QB Paxton Lynch and Houston QB Clayton Thorson have been removed from team rosters" (Tweet). Retrieved March 14, 2023 – via Twitter.
  30. ^ Greenstein, Teddy. "Strike up the band. Northwestern's Clayton Thorson is engaged". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  31. ^ Greenstein, Teddy (April 24, 2019). "'Sleeper' & keeper?". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
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