Baylor coach Dave Aranda and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes had busy phones in the final weeks leading up to the draft. NFL teams seemed to be playing a game of chicken, staring each other down over how high receiver Tyquan Thornton would go.
At least five teams were interested in Thornton in Round 2, according to a league source. Two of them — the Green Bay Packers and the Houston Texans — went with different receivers at 34th and 44th. The Chicago Bears, meanwhile, went with a safety at No. 48. At that point, Bill Belichick felt could wait no longer. He and the New England Patriots swerved in the game of chicken and traded up in the second round to nab the speedster. The move set off a run with four receivers selected in a five-pick span.
On one hand, Thornton was a physically talented, hardworking and productive receiver who not only logged the fastest 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine (4.28 seconds) but also tore up the Shrine Game, an All-Star game for top draft prospects.
Maybe former Baylor running back Abram Smith, now with the New Orleans Saints, was the engine of the Baylor offense but Thornton’s presence was what provided wings. With 62 catches for 948 yards and 10 touchdowns, he finished with 26% of the team’s receptions for 33% of the team’s receiving yards and 42% of the team’s receiving touchdowns.
“He was a riser,” Grimes told Patriots Wire. “There are guys that increase their stock within weeks of the draft and I think (Thornton) was one of those guys. And how much is he going to rise is the question. And so everyone’s just making an estimated guess. … I think the value of him was more than what some people realized.”
Thornton hadn’t initially sat atop big boards — in the media or among NFL teams — because he weighed just 183 pounds at 6-foot-2. His hands measured small. His wrists measured small. His 3-cone drill, a test of agility, massively lacked luster at 7.25 seconds. The questions were obvious: Will he…
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