It seems like every time you turn on a Las Vegas Raiders podcast, press conference, YouTube show, etc, someone is talking about rookie wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr., and that's because he should get the attention he's getting.
Sure, he hasn't even played a game yet, let alone a single snap, or even competed in training camp yet, but you don't need to see much to see that he is built for the NFL. The Raiders got him in the fourth round, somehow, but he has the potential to be an elite player, and I do mean elite. There is a reason he is drawing comparisons to guys like Megatron, the former Detroit Lions wide receiver, and Randy Moss, the former New England Patriots and Minnesota Vikings receiver.
Now, I'm not comparing him to those guys, because that's not fair to him -- he's his own player, and forcing him to live up to those expectations just isn't right. Regardless, he is a guy that people can't stop talking about, and now, after a few weeks of OTAs and minicamps, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly finally gets to talk about the new target.
"I think Dont'e is unique in terms of he's just a hair under 6-5 and he ran 4.3. There are not a lot of humans on this planet who do that," Kelly told reporters during OTAs.
"And I think if you had a draw up an outside receiver, you would pick that type of body type, someone that's got length, someone that's got a huge catch radius, but also has speed. Sometimes you can get a big guy like that, but he can't really run, so they can stay with him. So, you add that speed element to him, his ability to sink his hips, his ability to get in and out of cuts."
Based on not only everything we are hearing, but how much we are hearing it, and from the different types of people we are hearing it from, whether it be Maxx Crosby or a coach, it feels like Thornton is going to be the real deal.
His measurables and tangibles are already things that separate him. Now, if he can get the intangibles and the work ethic, which I'm not saying he doesn't have, but if he can master it all, this guy can really be special.
And the Raiders got him in the fourth round.
