Nov 30, 2024; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Dont'e Thornton Jr. (1) blows a kiss to the Tennessee Volunteers fans in the stands after his touchdown catch against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

New York Giants Draft Prospect: WR Dont’e Thornton Jr., Tennessee

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Nick Falato | Last updated Mar 5, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Can Dont’e Thornton Jr. develop into more of jsut a straight-line runner at the NFL level? He has the speed, but needs to polish up his route running after being limited in that role.

Dont’e Thornton Jr, WR

A former four-star recruit out of Mount Saint Joseph High School in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was the second player from his state and the 11th wide receiver during the 2021 recruiting cycle.

He initially attended Oregon for two seasons before transferring to Tennessee after the 2022 year. He was a four-star recruit in the transfer portal and the 13 overall receiver that year, while being the 63rd player in the portal.

Thorton led college football with a 25.4 yards per reception mark in 2024. He averaged a rare 21.9 yards per reception over his four years at two separate schools on 65 total catches – that’s very impressive.

Thornton aligned predominately out wide (95.7%) in 2024 but took 27.3% of his total career snaps in the slot. Averaged a career 2.80 yards per route run and a 3.72 yards per route run in 2024. He’s a low-volume home-run hitter. Dont’e Thornton Jr. was in attendance at the East-West Shrine Bowl.

Strengths

Catching up with Baltimore native, the pride of @MSJ_Football, it is Dont'e Thornton Jr. @IamDTJ11, former Tenn WR, now NFL Draft prospect after dazzling in Indy at the Combine, posting a 4.30 40-time!

Listen at https://t.co/3ShCqqozAt and Watch LIVE: https://t.co/dxFU87gxXY
— Glenn Clark (@GlennClarkRadio) March 3, 2025

Weaknesses

Summary

Dont’e Thornton Jr. has rare NFL speed with an elite ability to take the top off of defenses. The threat of him could dictate coverage on certain teams that can stretch the field vertically.

Thornton has good overall ball skills with the necessary tracking, concentration, body control, and leaping ability to win 50-50 ball situations.

Thornton will have a role in the NFL, but questions about that role are fair. Can he be more than just a field-stretching, wind-sprint runner who makes a big play every few games?

It’s possible, but development with his route running must take place for the explosive sudden athlete to be maximized as a wide receiver.

GRADE: 6.0D

This article first appeared on New York Giants on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: