The Las Vegas Raiders have had many issues on both sides of the ball during their 2-4 start to the 2025 NFL season. The offense, which was expected to be the strength of the team, has been the lesser of the two main units for a myriad of reasons.
The well-documented poor play of the offensive line and Geno Smith have been the driving forces of the Raiders' offensive struggles. The play calling from Chip Kelly has not helped either, as Las Vegas has failed to establish an identity offensively through six weeks.
There has been one unit whose struggles have seemingly been able to fly under the radar, however. Aside from Tre Tucker, who is in the midst of the best season of his young career, Las Vegas' wide receiver room has been a major letdown.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. has lost his role with the Raiders
Jakobi Meyers has certainly underperformed, but rookies Dont'e Thornton Jr. and Jack Bech have contributed next to nothing either. Thornton Jr. has seemingly felt the backlash of his struggles, as the fourth-round pick appears to be out of the game plan entirely now.
Thornton Jr. had a golden opportunity to begin the season, as he broke camp as the third wide receiver on the Raiders' depth chart, starting beside Meyers and Tucker. It appeared that he would seize the opportunity, as he hauled in two of his four targets for 45 yards in the season opener.
The rookie wideout has been unable to replicate the performance, however. He caught three passes for 49 yards over the next two weeks despite being targeted eight times. Thornton Jr. has been silent ever since Week 3, however, as he has failed to bring in any of his four targets.
RELATED: Michael Mayer said what every Raiders fan needed to hear about Geno Smith
His playing time has slowly decreased over that span as well. After playing 71.4% of the offensive snaps over the first two weeks, he was on the field for just 59.3% of the offensive snaps in Week 3 and Week 4.
Thornton Jr. played 47.1% of the offensive snaps the following week, marking the first time in his young career that he was not on the field for over half of the offensive snaps. The coaching staff made a drastic change in Week 6, however, as he played just two snaps.
He was overtaken by Bech in Week 6, as the TCU product played a career-high 46 snaps. While that does not bode well for Thornton Jr., considering he and his fellow rookie are trending in opposite directions, he will have an opportunity to reclaim a solid role in the offense at some point this season.
If Meyers gets dealt near the trade deadline, then it will be all hands on deck in the wide receiver room, and they'll need Thornton Jr. to grow up fast. The rookie wideout appears to have fallen out of favor with the coaching staff for the time being, but he must remain ready for when his number is called.