Raiders Have Decision to Make on Dont’e Thornton

Before the season started the Raiders placed wide receiver Dont’e Thornton on injured reserve. Now the team will have to make a decision if they want to bring him back for Week 8, or have Thornton miss the entire 2026 season. 

Three weeks ago the Raiders opened the 21-day practice window on Thornton. That gives teams 21 days to decide to bring a player off injured reserve. If the Raiders don’t bring Thornton back to the active roster this week, he will have to miss the rest of the season. 

Head coach Klint Kubiak didn’t give an endorsement for Thornton’s return.

“That’s a decision we don’t have to make until Wednesday,” Kubiak told the media Monday. 

It is a curious choice, as the Raiders could choose to open the 21-day window whenever they wanted. The team created this deadline. Usually when a player returns from injured reserve, the team knows when he will be ready to play again. But it appears the Raiders misjudged Thornton’s recovery. 

It could also be an indictment on Thornton as a player. The second-year player barely saw the field last year, when he made just 10 catches in 15 games. He didn’t establish himself as a top-three option in training camp before his injury. 

It is even more damning considering how desolate the Raiders’ wide receiver room looks. Tre Tucker is having an excellent season, but no one else is producing. Jalen Nailor has been a massive disappointment with 75 yards in six games. Jack Bech suffered a fractured forearm in Week 3, knocking him out for most of the first seven games. 

There is opportunity for Thornton, but he isn’t taking advantage of it. 

The 2025 Draft Class

Thornton’s lack of productivity and availability highlights how poor general manager John Spytek handled the 2025 NFL Draft. 

He drafted Ashton Jeanty with the sixth-overall pick, which is looking worse with each two-yard carry. He also traded back in the second round to select Jack Bech. If the Raiders had kept their original second-round pick, they could have selected Luther Burden, who went two picks later. 

Burden has 225 yards in his last two games; Bech has 272 yards in his career. 

After the first two rounds, Spytek has failed to hit on any difference makers. Caleb Rogers, Darien Porter, Charles Grant and JJ Pegues have failed to make any positive impacts. Tonka Hemingway, a fourth-round pick, has looked solid at defensive tackle this season, but that is the extent of success from this draft class. 

Thornton is a good representation for how horrible Spytek’s first draft class has been. His second class isn’t looking much better either.