Las Vegas Raiders' new wide receiver Dont'e Thornton is already showing an awareness trait that not every rookie has
The Las Vegas Raiders took the approach of now and future with their 2025 NFL Draft class. Some of these kids can help them now, some of them in the future, and some of them can do both. Dont'e Thornton fits into the both category. They are really banking on his development long term, but […]
The Las Vegas Raiders took the approach of now and future with their 2025 NFL Draft class. Some of these kids can help them now, some of them in the future, and some of them can do both. Dont'e Thornton fits into the both category.
They are really banking on his development long term, but for right now, they will use what he is good at — the deep ball. Thornton played at Oregon before going to Tennessee, and at Oregon, he did two things very well: He was a deep threat, and he did really well in run blocking by using his big 6'5" frame.
Fast forward to Tennessee, and that's how they use him there, only less run blocking and fewer routes over the middle and in the intermediate areas. Thornton then became known as a strict deep threat. And, that's fine — you don't find many players his size that also run a 4.30 40-yard dash.
The thing with Thornton that makes him special as a rookie is that he has a sense of self-awareness that you won't see often. He knows what he needs to improve on.
"I'll just say, along with being a deep threat down the field, a big guy that's fast, I'd say just bringing a great player into the program, a guy that's going to do whatever it takes to make the program better in any aspect," Thornton told the media via Zoom.
"I’m just basically doing my one percent all the time. And, yeah, that's the biggest thing, just coming in and being a great guy for the team. I’d say my intermediate and medium route running (what he wants to improve). With my past two years, I haven't really had the opportunity to really display that as much, so just getting back in the flow of doing that. Obviously, that is the number one thing everyone has been saying."
The Raiders will use him as he is in 2025. They need a big deep threat, and a guy that can get open down the field, and go up and get jump balls down the field. He will be used in the way he currently is, no doubt. That's why he is considered a player to help the Raiders win now.
However, he is also a future pick, because the Raiders are banking on his development with everything else. They really believe in this kid, and they really believe that he can be a star player at his position if the development goes the way it's supposed to go.
2025 should be fun with getting to see the way the Raiders use him at the beginning of the season, and then seeing his progress and development over the year, and how his role changes within the scheme. It feels like the Raiders really got a good player.
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