WR Dont'e Thornton Jr., Raiders' ‘Al Davis pick' of 2025 draft, turned heads this spring

New York Times

3 days ago

When it comes to personnel matters, Mark Davis is a hands-off owner. While sitting in the Las Vegas Raiders' draft war room in April, however, he couldn't help but comment when his team sent in its first pick of the fourth round.
'Mark joked that was the Al Davis pick of this draft,' director of college scouting Brandon Yeargan said recently.
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The late Al Davis was the Raiders' de facto general manager from 1963 to 2010, and he became known for putting a premium on speed, especially at receiver. Sometimes that panned out in a big way — e.g., Cliff Branch. Other times, it went terribly — e.g., Darrius Heyward-Bey.
The pick that jogged his father's memory was Dont'e Thornton Jr., a receiver out of Tennessee with eye-popping measurements, including a 6-foot-5, 205-pound build, exceptional athleticism and, of course, elite speed. He ran a 4.3-second 40-yard dash at the combine, which made him one of just three players in the history of the event to measure over 6-4 and run the 40 in 4.35 seconds or faster. The other two players are All-Pro DK Metcalf and Pro Football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson.
To thrive in the NFL, however, Thornton will have to be much more than just a speedster. He had just 65 catches in his four-year college career, so it's fair to say his draft status was more about his physical traits than production. With that being said, the Raiders believe he is capable of much more at the next level.
'We think he hasn't hit his ceiling yet,' Yeargan said. 'I wouldn't limit his potential at all. We believe in what he can be, and he's got some unique qualities in terms of his size and speed. That will help him have an immediate impact, and I think he can grow from there.'
That has already started to come to fruition for Thornton. By mandatory minicamp, the 22-year-old was already consistently running with the first-team offense. As receivers coach Chris Beatty put it recently, Thornton 'had a couple big plays every day.'
Thornton's frame, length and leaping ability allowed him to box out and rise above smaller defenders down the field. His ability to accelerate allowed him to get open and create yards after the catch. And his route running was crisp enough to create separation regularly. He's still early in the process of learning the Raiders' scheme, refining his skill set and working out his daily routine, but he has the look of a player who could be a day-one contributor.
'I feel like I made a lot of progress,' Thornton said. 'I've been starting to get in the flow.'
Thornton grew up in Cherry Hill, Md., a rough suburb of Baltimore plagued by crime, violence and murder. That came with inherent challenges for him and his family, but things got worse when his father was incarcerated when he was 9 years old. His primary focus shifted from being a kid to helping his mother, Taria Felder, care for him and his two younger siblings.
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'That forced me to mature a lot faster,' Thornton said. 'Throughout that whole process, it helped me become a man earlier than I needed to.'
When Thornton turned 10, his uncle, Faschall Grade, offered to let him move in with him in a nicer part of town to lessen the load on his mother. Felder agreed, but Thornton was hesitant. He called it 'one of the hardest decisions I ever made in my life.'
Thornton didn't want to feel like he was abandoning his family. But his uncle, who was married and had four kids of his own, explained why it was the right move to make.
'It was about teaching him how to become a man and just giving him traits to help him grow,' Grade said recently. 'I wanted to put him into a much safer environment. Where he was born in Cherry Hill has a lot of crime, killings and things of that nature. I just wanted to separate him from that, to broaden his horizons and to show him: 'This is what you can get to.' … It was just giving him more of a family atmosphere, security and stability.'
After making the move, Thornton immersed himself in sports and went on to enroll at Mount St. Joseph High, a Catholic all-boys school. It was there that he blossomed into a four-star football recruit, receiving offers from many of the top programs in the country.
Thornton's dream school was Oregon, and he enrolled there in 2021 under then-head coach Mario Cristobal. It seemed everything was going right for Thornton both on and off the field. In addition to landing a full football scholarship, that was also the year his father was released from prison and began trying to make up for missed time.
'He faced a lot of obstacles,' Grade said of Thornton. 'He never gave up. Some kids get deterred. He always had that fight in him. You can't teach that 'it' factor. He wanted to become better and just step up to the challenge.'
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From a football perspective, though, things never really got on track for Thornton. He earned a role as a backup as a true freshman, but then Cristobal bolted for the University of Miami job. Thornton was convinced to stay by incoming offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham, but then he left the following November to become the head coach at Arizona State.
In the wake of that change, Thornton decided to transfer to Tennessee. He'd seen the success they had in 2022 with quarterback Hendon Hooker lighting up SEC defenses with an offense that featured receivers Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman and thought it was a strong fit.
But Thornton didn't achieve that level of success. He caught just nine passes in 2023 and missed the last four games due to injury. And while he stayed healthy and took on a larger role in 2024, he still had just 26 catches for 661 yards and six touchdowns.
'I left a lot out there,' Thornton said.
Tennessee used Thornton in a limited role focused on attacking defenses downfield, which raised questions about his route-running ability. That and his lack of production led to him being a Day 3 pick. But falling in the draft won't stop him from getting a chance to prove himself with the Raiders.
'No one has seen the best of him yet,' Grade said. 'It's still in that phase of, 'What can he do?' … I feel like Dont'e will definitely get the opportunity to just go be him.'
It's easy to dismiss OTA hype as insignificant. Defensive end Maxx Crosby, though, doesn't give out effusive praise lightly. And after seeing Thornton up close in practice for a few weeks, he took his thoughts to his podcast.
'He hasn't hit his full potential yet,' Crosby said of Thornton. 'Seeing him on the field and realizing what he can be is, from a player perspective, like, 'Holy s—. This dude could be something serious.''
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The Raiders drafted versatile inside-outside receiver Jack Bech in the second round, but they're still figuring out where he's best suited to play. His skill set has some overlap with receiver Jakobi Meyers and tight end Brock Bowers, so it's been trickier to find where to use him.
In Thornton's case, the fit is much more precise. He's a prototypical 'X' receiver who'll line up almost exclusively on the outside. By the end of OTAs, he was taking the most reps as an outside receiver alongside Tre Tucker, while Meyers primarily operated from the slot. Bech will certainly have a chance in training camp to shake up that lineup, but Thornton's combination of size, length and speed should make him a fixture in the rotation.
'If you had a draw up of an outside receiver,' offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said, 'you would pick that type of body type.'
Crosby did go on to acknowledge that Thornton still has a long way to go. That will start with sharpening his knowledge of Kelly's scheme. It's a complex system that can be tough for even veterans to grasp. Although Thornton is coming from a simplistic offense at Tennessee, he said the transition has gone well, partially because he is a very detailed notetaker.
Physically, Thornton displayed the ability to sink his hips and get in and out of cuts during OTAs, but his short-to-intermediate route running remains a work in progress. He's well aware that was a knock against him leading up to the draft, and he's eager to cast aside those concerns as the season draws closer.
'Everybody doubted me in that part of my game,' Thornton said. 'I never felt like I lacked that. I feel like it's just a bunch of people who didn't watch a lot of film of me. … Just hearing that a bunch of people feel like I can't do that, it's more motivation for me to get better so I can prove everybody wrong.'