The Patriots Make it Official: Tyquan Thornton is Inducted Into Their WR Draft Bust Hall of Fame

How it began:

How it was looking:

And so it is that Tyquan Thornton, the 50th overall pick in 2022, is carried off on his shield to the Valhalla of other highly drafted Patriots wide receivers who failed to deliver. A list that includes, though is by no means limited to, N'Keal Harry, Aaron Dobson, Chad Jackson, and Bethel Johnson. (And while he did have a wide open touchdown catch in the red zone last week, Ja'Lynn Polk has been showing early signs of joining their undistinguished company someday.) 

In fact, I will make the case that the selection of Thornton was a course correction by Bill Belichick and the Patriots personnel department after taking Harry 32nd overall three years earlier. Harry was among the slowest wideouts in the draft. A physical, wide-bodied guy who was supposed to make all the tough 50/50 catches in traffic. Thornton was among the fastest players in franchise history and was going to be the one who put stress on the deepest part of opposing secondaries. Instead, Harry was lucky to catch 50% of the passes thrown his way on the rare times he got open (career catch % of 57.1). And the only stress Thornton created was ours. 

If you're looking for a reason there's a new head coach and a new GM in Foxboro, here's yer problem, ma'am:

After all, wide receiver might be the toughest position in all of sports to scout, but good ones do exist. And other franchises find them:

On a certain level, this is personal to me. Because at the end of training camp of Thornton's rookie year, when they gave him the very number that's been my favorite since Little League, I asked the internet for advice. And with a loud, clear, voice, the voters gave me a mandate:

In conclusion,  How it ended:

If anyone has a navy blue patch with white, block lettering that reads "EDELMAN" or even "BLEDSOE" I'll take it off your hands. At least I know neither of them is going to drop any more perfectly thrown Drake Maye passes.