Sometimes it's best not to listen to us, the media and reporters, who actually do their homework. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, to say sometimes you shouldn't listen to us, but the reality is we don't always know everything, especially when it comes to football evaluations.
If there is one thing you ever need to learn about the game of football when it comes to the NFL or even the pros -- never think you know more than the coaches or the general managers when it comes to X's and O's. The same should be said when it comes to the Las Vegas Raiders front office.
They take the players they take in the draft because they know what they see when it comes to tangible things on tape and intangible things in their meetings that they see. So, we may see or hear something from someone that we trust, like a big-time guy who is known for his football work when it comes to the NFL Draft, and then that is where our idea is formed about a prospect, but that's not always true.
Sometimes those analysts don't know what the player is being asked to do within an offense that may not even fit his play style. Sometimes they don't watch his entire college tape, from every single year, with every team he played for.
And sometimes, no one knows the player better than the player himself.
After watching every snap and every play Dont'e Thornton Jr. has played, the Raiders rookie wide receiver should not have fallen down the board as he did, and the Raiders knew that too, hence the draft call where head coach Pete Carroll mentioned what Thornton did back in his Oregon days.
And Thornton knows what he can do, too. This false narrative about him not having a route tree and only being a deep threat is something he knows is not true.
"One thing on the draft call when I talked to coach Pete Carroll, he said it himself, if you look at the Oregon film there is a lot of stuff you will see that people don't see that happened these past few years with me playing at Tennessee," Thornton Jr., said on the OAKLOSVEGAS podcast hosted by Graphk Raider.
"If you turn on my two years of Oregon film, you will see me running more routes. I just take it as a challenge, like, I'm not going to say I'm the best route runner in the world, no, there are definitely things I need to work on. But, to say that I can't run routes, or that I have a very limited route tree, just means that you haven't watched enough of me to know that."
When you watch his Oregon tape, you will see a guy who does much more than just catch deep fades or go balls. He blocks in the run game fairly well, too, and he has an assortment of routes that you will see him run, specifically over the middle and intermediate areas of the field.
In the Chip Kelly offensive scheme that the Raiders will be running in 2025, you can expect to see Thornton used similarly to how Tre Tucker has been used, in that his speed will play a major factor in the routes that he runs, but also that they will try to get Thornton in space. Getting him in some bubble or screen action would be great for their offense because he can make guys miss and use his speed to really separate from defenders.
But most importantly, I could see Thornton as a guy who the Raiders would like to use on obvious passing downs to run routes that are guaranteed first downs in third and short yardage situations, like a quick hitch or even a drag over the middle. He's certainly a guy that you can throw a jump ball to if needed, because of his 6'5" frame and athleticism. The only thing there is, well, Brock Bowers and Jakobi Meyers are also guys like that, so they may not need Thornton to do that.
Thornton can do it, he just hasn't been asked to do it in a while. Does he need some work? Of course, even the best players in the NFL aren't perfect. But, he's much better of a prospect than some would lead you to believe. The Raiders are going to have fun using a guy that has the ability to do it all if given a chance.
