Former Patriots bust is suddenly Patrick Mahomes’ most trusted weapon

Back in 2022, the Kansas City Chiefs were on the clock with the 50th overall pick in the NFL Draft with a major need at wide receiver after having traded away Tyreek Hill. Many fans were clamoring for KC to pick George Pickens, but instead the Chiefs traded the pick to the New England Patriots, who then drafted speedy wideout Tyquan Thornton out of Baylor. Pickens would be selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers two picks later, and the Chiefs would then go on to take Skyy Moore two picks after that.

Fast forward four seasons, and Skyy Moore is now frustrating San Francisco 49ers fans with his punt return miscues. George Pickens is a Dallas Cowboy, and Tyquan Thornton has been the Kansas City Chiefs’ best wide receiver through three games. It's not how any of the teams would have drawn things up, but the Chiefs have to be very happy that Thornton ended up in KC after flaming out with the Patriots.

Tyquan Thornton proved his worth against the New York Giants

On Sunday night against the New York Giants, Thornton had 5 receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown. It may not be an eye-popping stat line, but on a night when the offense once again struggled to get anything going, he provided a huge boost. Thornton now has 9 receptions for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns through 3 games. That puts him on pace for 51 receptions, 969 yards, and 11 touchdowns for a full 17-game season.

For comparison, last season Worthy had 59 receptions for 638 yards and 6 receiving touchdowns. Marquez Valdes-Scantling's best season in KC was 2022, when he had 42 receptions for 687 yards and 2 touchdowns. It is also worth noting that Skyy Moore never had two touchdowns in the regular season during his Chiefs career.

Thornton may not keep this pace up once Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice return, but he's been the most productive pass catcher through three games on a team that still has Travis Kelce and Hollywood Brown. Kelce had 4 catches for 26 yards on Sunday and Brown had 4 for 42, but both have basically just been short possession targets through three games.

In fact, Brown has the exact same number of receiving yards as Thornton (171), but it has taken him 10 more receptions to get them, and he is yet to score a touchdown. Meanwhile, Kelce has 10 receptions for 134 yards and a touchdown.

In the second half of the Giants game, you could tell that Mahomes was fed up with the ineffective short passing game and was clearly targeting Thornton to try to get something going. It worked, and you have to think that Thornton is now doing enough that he will remain a key part of the offense even once Worthy and Rice are back.

While Worthy and Rice have both produced a lot more than Thornton has at the NFL level, neither of them has really established himself as a reliable downfield target for Mahomes. Rice is a run-after-the-catch monster who excels at taking short throws and picking up extra yards, and while Worthy has the deep speed needed, his small frame has limited his success on deep throws thus far. Many (myself included) thought that Jalen Royals might be the spark KC needed in this game, but it turns out it was Thornton's big-play upside.

Mahomes hasn't really had a reliable deep threat since they traded Tyreek away before that 2022 NFL Draft. Marquez Valdes-Scantling filled that role for a few seasons and Mahomes would give him some chances, but he never really established a connection with Mahomes. It's too early to say that Thornton will be that guy after three games, but it's as promising a start as you could have hoped for.

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach has taken chances on "busts" that other teams have discarded before. Most of the time, things don't pan out, but it is starting to look like the Patriots' trash may just become the Chiefs' treasure.

Even if it doesn't last, Thornton's contributions early this season, while Worthy and Rice have been out, have made the dart throw well worth it. He was the offensive star against the Giants on Sunday, and now fans will just have to wait and see if this is the start of something bigger