Patriots select WR Tyquan Thornton
- Thread starter jsinger121
- Start date
I got around to watching Thornton. My band for him is 6.49-6.75. I want to say I’d have netted out on a 6.75 or a 6.5 because he can do some things that I think will translate. He beats press and is really fast. He uses deception in his routes. Now he needs to be more consistent with it but he does it. He doesn’t play like a thin guy. He blocks well and had some nice contested catches. My lesson with the Slim Reaper is if the guy can handle physicality in a good conference against good opponents and plays bigger than his weight then don’t write them off for their size. He plays tough and not just tough for a WR.
When I think about Moore, Pierce, and Thornton (assuming Pickens is off the board as not a culture fit) what I think is the Pats took the home run swing. If Thornton hits I think his ceiling is like Brandin Cooks. Not as shifty but he’s tougher at the catch point.
I did see some clunkiness on an out route with his cut. But it wasn’t any more clunky than Garrett Wilson’s horizontal breaks. I can see why Thornton slipped through the cracks. As my buddy Matt St. Jean said - this guy with a QB to throw to him would have been a universally acknowledged second round pick the way he beats press and is so fast. He has trapdoors but to me this is taking the home run swing. I can live with that. They need stars. Is another WR2 going to move the needle for them?
When I think about Moore, Pierce, and Thornton (assuming Pickens is off the board as not a culture fit) what I think is the Pats took the home run swing. If Thornton hits I think his ceiling is like Brandin Cooks. Not as shifty but he’s tougher at the catch point.
I did see some clunkiness on an out route with his cut. But it wasn’t any more clunky than Garrett Wilson’s horizontal breaks. I can see why Thornton slipped through the cracks. As my buddy Matt St. Jean said - this guy with a QB to throw to him would have been a universally acknowledged second round pick the way he beats press and is so fast. He has trapdoors but to me this is taking the home run swing. I can live with that. They need stars. Is another WR2 going to move the needle for them?
That's a good point. It certainly must have been more difficult pre-internet/pre-email.
And pre people actually taking that sort of role seriously. For better or worse, he kinda built the idea of the 3rd party draftnik.
So this Baylor/Pittsburgh WR coach -also- coached one of the comps for Thornton in Robbie Anderson (6'3, 190 lb) over in Carolina, did he?
Yeah, I think that's even more likely now.
Week 12 check-in:
Thornton: 8/86/1TD (7 games)
27%, 37% snap percentage over the last two games after peaking at 85% versus the Bears. 2 catches for 10 yards in November.
Other second-rounders:
Watson(#34): 22/353/6 (9 games)
Robinson(#43): 23/227/1 (6 games)
Pickens(#52): 33/453/2 (10 games)
Pierce(#53): 28/424/1 (10 games)
Moore(#54): 17/205/0 (11 games) (10 catches / 99 yards in his last two games a.k.a. more production the TT's whole season)
James Cook(#63)RB: 9/110/0 (11 games)
This is discouraging after the complete failure that was the N'Keal Harry era. It's nothing to panic about, but my lord, it would be nice to see him build some sort of positive momentum on the field.
Thornton: 8/86/1TD (7 games)
27%, 37% snap percentage over the last two games after peaking at 85% versus the Bears. 2 catches for 10 yards in November.
Other second-rounders:
Watson(#34): 22/353/6 (9 games)
Robinson(#43): 23/227/1 (6 games)
Pickens(#52): 33/453/2 (10 games)
Pierce(#53): 28/424/1 (10 games)
Moore(#54): 17/205/0 (11 games) (10 catches / 99 yards in his last two games a.k.a. more production the TT's whole season)
James Cook(#63)RB: 9/110/0 (11 games)
This is discouraging after the complete failure that was the N'Keal Harry era. It's nothing to panic about, but my lord, it would be nice to see him build some sort of positive momentum on the field.
Those other 2nd round WRs would be 4th, 6th, 2nd, 2nd, and 7th in yards and 5th, 3rd (3-way tie), 3rd, 3rd, and 8th in catches among the team. Watson and Robinson were already off the board when Thornton was picked, but the point still stands.
2nd rounders do have a fairly high bust rate. I think the characterization of this pick being a home run swing is accurate, and sometimes those turn into swing-and-miss, which would be unfortunate. Unclear how much his training camp injury set him back; would not expect a broken collarbone to linger, but he lost valuable development time as well.
Reiss mentioned in his notebook that Thornton missed a block in the first quarter of the Vikes game and is part of why his playing time may be diminishing.