Tennessee wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. (1) runs in a touchdown during the second quarter at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Did Rams Miss Out on Game-Changing Rookie Speedster?

Originally posted on Los Angeles Rams on SI
By Brock Vierra | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 9:00 AM ET

There is a simple fact in all of athletics. Speed wins. Raiders' owner, the late Al Davis, believed in this philosophy so much that despite having passed away nearly 15 years ago, whenever he Raiders select a receiver that has any resemblance of speed, that player is titled as an "Al Davis pick."

“They said you had to take what the defense gave you," Davis is famously quoted with saying. "No, we are going to take what we want.”

Davis is right as outside of sheer dominating force on the line of scrimmage, nothing manipulates defenses more than speed and the Raiders have a fast pass catcher in rookie Dont'e Thornton Jr.

Thornton Jr, a 22-year-old, 6'5, 205-pound receiver from the University of Tennessee, ran a blazing 4.3 40 at the NFL Combine, and now that the Raiders have gotten a glance at him, general manager John Spytek is simply all smiles.

"Mark joked that was the Al Davis pick of this draft," Spytek told the team's official website. "The height, weight, speed, raw traits, athleticism, speed, and I think it's just focusing on what he can do and what he can be. ... You watch his target tape, I think it's pretty impressive. And we think he hasn't hit his ceiling yet."

Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly added a bit more on why the Raiders are excited about Thornton.

"There's not a lot of humans on this planet that do that," Kelly said. "And I think if you had to 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."

While the Rams had many opportunities to select Thornton, considering he was a fourth-round pick, there wasn't a need as they had already locked up the services of Tutu Atwell.

However, Thornton is as fast as Atwell, bigger, taller, easier to target downfield, and is on a four year rookie deal.

While Atwell may become the producer that his collegiate tape once promised, he's only on a one-year deal, so unless the Rams are ready to make a long-term investment in Atwell, they may have remorse about passing on Thornton if reports reflect his play come Sundays.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Rams on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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