The Las Vegas Raiders and their fan base have been optimistic about the offense heading into the 2025 NFL season. Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty and Jakobi Meyers are a dynamic trio, and Geno Smith is a quarterback who can get the most out of them.
While Raider Nation has been excited about the team's young pass-catchers as well, the new regime in Las Vegas recently brought back veteran wideout Amari Cooper for a reunion just before the season began. He was expected to play a key role right away in Chip Kelly's offense.
However, he suddenly retired on Thursday afternoon, just three days before the season opener against the New England Patriots. While this sent both the team and fan base into a bit of a frenzy, all eyes will now be directed towards a rookie wide receiver to fill the void.
Raiders need Dont'e Thornton Jr. to step up with Amari Cooper retired
Las Vegas listed fourth-round rookie Dont'e Thornton Jr. as a starter on their initial depth chart, but both John Spytek and Pete Carroll were adamant that Cooper would serve as a mentor for Thornton while he figured out all the tricks of the trade at the NFL level.
Now, however, Thornton will be thrust into an even more important role alongside Bowers, Meyers and Tre Tucker after Cooper's abrupt exit. He showed signs of being ready in the team's final preseason game, but he was inconsistent after an initial surge of hype during OTAs and training camp.
Thornton certainly has all the tools to be an excellent "X" wide receiver at the professional level, as his 6-foot-5 frame and 4.3-second 40-yard dash speed has been the talk of the fan base since his arrival. But he has to put it all together, and fast, if this Raiders offense wants to have success.
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Luckily for the Las Vegas' unit, Cooper was not in the building for a majority of the offseason, so this should not be a drastic change. In fact, it may help, as the team now has one less moving piece to incorporate on short notice.
But Raider Nation was excited to have Cooper back, as it felt perfect for him to end his career back where it started. However, The Athletic's Tashan Reed reported that Cooper was unimpressive in practice, so perhaps it is for the best that he sidelined himself before playing poorly.
Even though his heart was in the right place coming back to the Silver and Black after all these years, Cooper has let down the fan base once again. If Thornton can quickly develop into a good NFL wideout, however, then Raider Nation will quickly forget about how this all unfolded.