2022 Chiefs Draft Prospect: Tyquan Thornton

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NAME: Tyquan Thornton

POSITION: Wide Receiver

SCHOOL: Baylor

HEIGHT: 6’2”

WEIGHT: 181 pounds

CAREER BACKGROUND

A native of Miami, Florida, Tyquan Thornton attended Booker T. Washington High School. Outside of football, he was a star runner in track and field. Thornton had a personal best of 10.5 seconds in the 100-meter dash and a personal best of 21.07 seconds in the 200-meter dash in high school. As a senior in high school football, he compiled over 1,100 receiving yards, 10 receiving touchdowns, 214 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Thronton occasionally threw the ball as well, as he recorded three touchdown passes.

He was a two-time All-Dade honoree in high school. 247Sports rated him as a four-star recruit. Thornton was also ranked as the 37th best player to come out of the state of Florida and as the 44th best wide receiver prospect in his class. Overall, he received many prominent offers from programs who hold pedigree in college football. This included Florida, Georgia, LSU, Miami (FL) and Tennessee. However, Thornton opted to play college football at Baylor.

Climbing The Ladder

As a true freshman in 2018, Thornton saw minimal opportunities as a receiver, rusher and returner. The Baylor product appeared in all 13 games and made two starts. He hauled in 20 passes for 354 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns. Furthermore, Thornton returned five kicks and ran the ball twice.

2019 saw Thornton build a stronger foundation within the Bears’ offense. He appeared in all 14 games and wound up making 11 starts. In the end, Thornton finished with 45 receptions for 782 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. He earned an All-Big 12 honorable mention honor for that sophomore campaign.

Consistent Starter

2020 limited Thornton’s season to just six games played, all of which were starts. He was still able to haul in 16 passes for 158 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. The impact may seem minimal on the surface. Yet, Thornton was able to build this into a more refined technique heading into 2021.

His senior season in 2021 was easily his most impactful. He started in all 14 games. Thornton went on to set new single season career highs in receptions (62, which was a team lead), receiving touchdowns (10, which was a team led) and receiving yards (948, which finished as third best in the Big 12). He also earned second team All-Big 12 honors for 2021. Moreover, he finished his college career ranked among the top of the Baylor career leaderboard. His 19 receiving touchdowns are eighth most in school history. Thornton’s 2,242 receiving yards are 10th most in school history. Finally, his 143 receptions are 14th most in school history.

SCOUTING REPORT

Instead of listing positives and negatives for traits, this year we will be listing the best trait of each prospect and work our way down to the biggest area of improvement/absent trait(s), from top to bottom.

Speed

There is no denying that this wide receiver has long speed that can seemingly allow him to outrace anyone. On top of that, Thornton reaches top speed almost instantly. He is able to cover ample ground in an alarmingly beneficial rate. Simply put, Thornton gets to the outside shoulder of the defensive back and takes away their leverage by utilizing long strides. His speed is of the explosive variety as well. More importantly, Thornton controls it well and does not let the speed deter him from completing other tasks. This includes being able to finish polished routes or adjusting to passes, if need be.

Hands

Thornton consistently extends his long arms away from his chest and frame. Meanwhile, he does a good job of plucking the ball out of the air. Instead of basically clapping at the catch point, Thornton firmly, yet smoothly, hauls it in and protects the ball right away. He is more straightforward than anything, as he will not always come through to make the difficult catches. Thornton’s hand technique, in terms of timing and placement, makes it incredibly excruciating for defenders to challenge him at the catch point.

Football IQ

The recognition of this pass catcher to alter his cuts during routes and adjustments at the catch point make it much easier on the quarterback. Thornton is rather urgent to place himself in the correct spot, in order to make the catch. For example, he noticeably leaves enough room between he and the sideline on vertical routes. The same thing could be said when it comes to how much depth he looks to gain when running routes over the middle of the field. Elsewhere, the attention to detail on body positioning and angles allows Thornton to get a leg up on the defense, so to speak. He is not shy about having to block and having to help out teammates either.

Run After Catch Ability

Thornton immediately gets vertical after securing the catch. He is rather physical after the catch, to boot. That makes it challenging for defensive opponents to bring him down, no matter how well their tackling form or angle may be. Thornton also provides a sense of elusiveness. Essentially, he is extremely aggressive when opportunities are open to best opponents laterally. His field vision also makes a difference in those moments. Of course, the elite speed of Thornton is a tremendous bonus too.

Route Running

For a taller wide receiver, Thornton does well to sink his hips when running his routes. He is not as stiff as one may expect. On the other hand, Thornton also has some crispness to his route running. For instance, he will often complete his route stem with a combination of power and force. Thornton is largely refined when it comes to his cuts and breaks as well. The way in which he sells routes leads to a lot of early bites by defensive backs. As a result, this leads to Thornton getting on top of them quickly.

Ball Skills

His length allows him the gift of having a large catch radius. Thornton is incredibly smooth when it comes to his body control at the catch point. His ability to track the ball, adjust and contort his body is something that Thornton has steadily improved on near the end of his college career. He will not always complete the difficult catches. But, the recent growth and adjustments should make whoever drafts him much more comfortable.

Separation

Thornton does have some smooth and savvy double moves and fakes within his arsenal. Those allow him to uncover at the beginning of the route. Thornton also separates efficiently at the top of the route. This is due to his ability to find the soft spots in zone coverage and prowess of using his size to his advantage. Yet, there are moments where wasted movements hurt Thornton and his ability to separate quicker. He could also improve upon getting in and out of transitions earlier on during the route.

Versatility

Thornton did lineup both in the slot and on the outside for Baylor. He is not necessarily incapable of producing from the slot. Nevertheless, Thornton does seem much more confident and comfortable when working on the outside. His mix of size and speed allows him to win vertically and over the middle of the field after working in from the outside. In the slot, he appears a bit handcuffed on his routes. Thornton is also a bit shaky when contact nears him at a more rapid pace.

Release Package

Thornton does have a couple of different moves that he utilizes against defensive backs. For example, he will heavily use a jab step or a stutter step. It does help him gain separation. However, Thornton just does not gain that separation very consistently. He can often be too relaxed or patient when coming off of the line of scrimmage after the snap. This can lead to Thornton having to fight through contact more often than one would like. Additionally, he also has many wasted movements within his releases and can be too creative when it is not necessary. Rather than just completing the route and winning with speed, Thornton can be a bit leisurely with his release.

CHIEFS FIT

Just in this offseason, the Kansas City Chiefs have added names like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to the wide receiver room. The emphasis to get more size at that spot is highly apparent. Tyquan Thornton may not have the mass or density that those two have. However, his combination of height, speed and physicality fit the mold of the Smith-Schuster and Valdes-Scantling additions. He can win in the intermediate area. He can win vertically. More importantly, Thornton has proven that he can create explosive plays in numerous ways.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs draft prospect profiles throughout this spring. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.