Over the last few years of Bill Belichick’s tenure with the Patriots, he appeared to have made more mistakes with their draft picks than wins, resulting in years of improper roster building and constant labels of draft busts.
A few became the most infamous of all, like wide receivers N’Keal Harry and Tyquan Thornton, both of whom the former head coach reached for when they were selected. Neither did much of anything during their time in New England, and they were on another team within three years.
For the most part, letting them go didn’t look like a bad decision, and while that remains true, the rise of Thornton with the Chiefs this offseason is certainly noteworthy.
Besides being shocking, given how he played with the Patriots, it looks like he could be a solid weapon for three-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which was not something anyone could have predicted going into this offseason.
Tyquan Thornton might finally becoming the kind of player Bill Belichick believed he could be (just not with the Patriots)
Throughout the summer, Thornton has made headlines for his performances at training camp, which is nothing new to the fourth-year receiver. That was a constant when he was in Foxboro, providing fans and the team with some hope of what might come during the regular season, only for Thornton to fall off the face of the planet once it was game time.
He could still prove to be just that once the 2025 season begins, but his performance against the Bears in the Chiefs’ preseason finale made headlines, as he caught a deep ball from Mahomes that was good for 50+ yards.
DEEEEP BALLLLL š pic.twitter.com/neaDTagERA
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If this is any indication of what’s to come, then perhaps Thornton really did just need a change of scenery and a much better quarterback to work with.
Or, this is just the latest example of a preseason superstar who turns back into a pumpkin once the regular season begins. Time will tell.
It will be interesting to see what happens because Thornton has received a lot of hype every offseason that he has been in the NFL, but he has never managed to continue that momentum when the game actually mattered. He has a chance to change that this year with a team actively competing for their next Lombardi, but we’ll have to see if he can live up to his preseason production or not.
If he reverts to the Thornton of old, then it might be time to officially declare him as a draft bust.
