Cameron Thomas

NoteCARDS:

• Selected by Arizona with their first pick of the third round (87th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft out of San Diego State. He became the first Aztec player drafted in the first three rounds by the Cardinals since the team selected TE Rob Awalt in the third round (62nd overall) in 1987.
• Played in all 17 games as a rookie in 2022, finishing with 18 tackles, 3.0 sacks, six QB hits, three tackles for loss and a pass defensed. 
• Johnson and his brother, Zachary, both starred at San Diego State and were both selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. Zachary was taken by Chicago in the sixth round (186th overall) and was signed to the Rams active roster from the Bears practice squad last season.

NoteCARDS:

• Selected by Arizona with their first pick of the third round (87th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft out of San Diego State. He became the first Aztec player drafted in the first three rounds by the Cardinals since the team selected TE Rob Awalt in the third round (62nd overall) in 1987.
• Played in all 17 games as a rookie in 2022, finishing with 18 tackles, 3.0 sacks, six QB hits, three tackles for loss and a pass defensed. 
• Johnson and his brother, Zachary, both starred at San Diego State and were both selected in the 2022 NFL Draft. Zachary was taken by Chicago in the sixth round (186th overall) and was signed to the Rams active roster from the Bears practice squad last season.

Pro Career:

Selected by the Cardinals in the third round (87th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft out of San Diego State and appeared in all 17 games as a rookie in 2022. 

2022: Appeared in all 17 games and compiled 18 tackles ( 7 solo), three tackles for loss, six QB hits, one pass defensed, and 3.0 sacks ... made his NFL debut and tallied one tackle vs. KC (9/11) ... appeared in Cardinals overtime win @ LV (9/18) ... recorded a tackle vs. LAR (9/25) ... had a tackle in Arizona's win @ CAR (10/2) ... recorded three tackles vs. PHI (10/9) ... recorded two tackles, one TFL, one QB hit and notched his first career NFL sack @ SEA (10/16) ... collected a tackle in Cardinals win vs. NO (10/20) ... played @ MIN (10/30) ... had one tackle vs. SEA (11/6) ... played in Cardinals win @ LAR (11/14) ... recorded one tackle, 1.0 sacks, one TFL and one QB hit vs. LAC (11/27) ... registered one pass defensed vs. NE (12/12) ... played @ DEN (12/18) ... totaled one tackle and a career and season-high two QB hits vs. TB (12/25) ... compiled five tackles @ ATL (1/1) ... recorded one tackle, one sack, one TFL, and a QB hit in regular season finale @ SF (1/8). 

College:

In three seasons (2019-21), Thomas was a three-time first-team All-Mountain West Conference selection and All-American honoree who played 36 games (34) starts and totaled 155 tackles, 21.0 sacks, 39.0 tackles for loss, three passes defensed and a forced fumble … joined Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (1997-99) as the only Aztec defensive linemen in their Division I era (since 1969) to be named first-team all-conference three times … finished his Aztec career ranked third in program history in sacks (21.0) and 10th in tackles for loss (39.0) ... in his final 17 games (three in 2020 and 14 in 2021), totaled 98 tackles (48 solo), 28.0 tackles for loss, 14 sacks and 26 QB hurries ... as a junior in 2021, earned All-American accolades from 11 different publications, was a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award and named the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year after starting all 14 games and totaling 71 tackles, 20.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks and 21 QB hurries … became the first Aztec player ever named a semifinalist for the Bednarik Award and the third SDSU player named MW Defensive Player of the Year (Kirk Morrison & Damontae Kazee) … according to ProFootballFocus.com, led all FBS edge defenders with 77 total pressures, including 4+ pressures in 13-of-14 games played … had a sack in nine consecutive games (Weeks 4-13) … his 11.5 sacks were sixth in school single-season history, while his 20.5 tackles for loss were seventh ... led the Mountain West in sacks (11.5) and was second in tackles for loss (20.5), third in sacks per game (0.82) and fourth in tackles for loss per game (1.46) … his 71 tackles were the fifth most in the country among defensive linemen ... led the team in tackles on rushing plays (51) … named the SDSU Defensive Player of the Week four times and the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week once ... as a sophomore in 2020, earned first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors for the second consecutive season after starting all eight games and totaling 35 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks and 14 QB hurries … ranked second in the FBS in QB pressures (37) among interior D-Linemen according to Pro Football Focus … tied for fourth in the Mountain West in both tackle for loss yards (48) and tackles for loss (9.5), and seventh in sack yards (34) ... over his final three games, totaled 27 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks ... switched from DT to DE after the first four games … had a memorable performance at Colorado (11/8) en route to making the ProFootballFocus National Team of the Week, collecting a career-high 14 tackles (11 solo), a 12-yard sack, a career-best three tackles for loss and four QB hurries ... as a freshman in 2019, was the only freshman in the conference to earn first-team All-Mountain West Conference honors after starting 12-of-13 games at DT and totaling 49 tackles, 9.0 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, two passes defensed and 13 QB hurries … along with teammate Myles Cheatum, two d-linemen landed on the all-conference first-team for the first time since 1974 ... named Defensive Lineman of the Year and the co-Outstanding Freshman (WR Jesse Matthews) at the team's postseason banquet ... named to the Pro Football Focus Mountain West Team of the Week four times … earned second-team Freshman All-America honors from The Athletic ... played in one game during his redshirt season in 2018.

Personal:

Attended Carlsbad (CA) High School where he recorded 88 tackles in his final two seasons to go along with five tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, a pass defensed and a fumble recovery ... also played TE, totaling 22 receptions for 294 yards and four TDs … majored in Social Science.