Is Thornton too thin?

Patriots beat writer Jeff Howe writes that WR Tyquan Thornton looks “noticeably skinny” at OTAs. “It’s fair to wonder how he’ll hold up against physical corners and through the constant hits from the 17-game regular season,” Howe concluded. The Baylor product goes 6’2, 181 pounds. So there’s a chance he puts on a bit of weight before Week 1. Still, Thornton — a true burner — will want to remain relatively light to play fast. He projects to play a rotational role as a rookie.

Those around Patriots 2nd-round WR Tyquan Thornton say he has showed impressive growth through his 1st training camp. "He's gotten better every single time he's stepped on the field," WRs coach Ross Douglas told ESPN's Mike Reiss. "He truly has a lot of gifts. It's not just his speed. His ability to change direction, ball skills. He has a good attitude and the guys in the room have embraced him. His development will be key and we'll get him there." Reiss adds that Thornton has been primarily working behind WRs Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker, Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne, and that those 4 appear "locked in atop the depth chart." We're not betting on a big fantasy football return from Thornton in his rookie season. We'll see, though, whether he can buck the lackluster trend of early-round WRs under Bill Belichick over the next few years.

The Patriots traded up to select Baylor WR Tyquan Thornton with the 50th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft. Thornton goes 6’2, 181 pounds and blazed a 4.28-second 40 time at the Combine. No, surprise then, that he averaged 15.7 yards per catch across 4 college seasons. Thornton also has strong hands (3.1% drop rate last year) and a nice catch radius. We’ll see if he can develop into a more complete receiver, but Thornton at least has a shot to emerge as a downfield weapon. It’s a major surprise that he landed in Round 2, but his fantasy stock is certainly on the rise.