Patriots moving on from yet another failed draft pick at wide receiver
The New England Patriots are cutting their losses on the latest in a long line of failed draft picks at wide receiver.
Third-year wideout Tyquan Thornton is being placed on waivers Saturday, as first reported by Adam Schefter. Thornton was originally drafted with the 52nd overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Baylor, but has only played 28 games so far in his NFL career, with injuries partly to blame.
Thornton showed promise initially, showing out well in his first training camp as a pro in 2022. But he ended up suffering a broken collarbone during a preseason game, which landed him on injured reserve and ultimately kept him out for the first four games of his rookie season.
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Thornton started solidly in his first NFL game action, making nine touches for 60 yards and two touchdowns in his first two games. But he has produced only 33 catches for 341 yards and one score in 26 games since.
Injuries haven’t been an issue lately for Thornton, who according to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald is “fully healthy” as he hits waivers. He has essentially been a healthy scratch for the Patriots in four of their last five games.
Thornton became the latest addition to a frustratingly long list of wide receivers drafted under Bill Belichick that never panned out. In some cases, these receivers haven’t just failed to find success in New England, but were total busts. N’Keal Harry, a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, stands as the most infamous example of Belichick’s drafting futility at receiver.
It remains to be seen whether Thornton will catch on with another team. The Pats have also gotten off to a rocky start drafting wide receivers under new executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf, but there’s still time for rookie second-round pick Ja’Lynn Polk and fourth-rounder Javon Baker to potentially develop into better players than the Patriots have selected at this position historically.
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The Pats’ only draft success at the position has come with what amount to lottery tickets. Second-year pros Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas have emerged as viable options in their second seasons, especially as targets for rookie Drake Maye, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft.
But Thornton is simply the newest piece of evidence that the Patriots drafting receivers in the early rounds, especially in the Belichick era, is almost entirely bad news.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
