The Las Vegas Raiders desperately needed their young wide receivers to step up on Thursday Night Football in Week 10, as the team traded away star Jakobi Meyers just days before. The offense needed some production alongside Brock Bowers and Tre Tucker, but they never got it.
Rookies Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr. were under a microscope heading into the matchup, but unfortunately, they didn't answer the call. They made far too many unforced mistakes in the game, which sank the Raiders' offense on several occasions.
While many think that these two squandered their chance, and others are writing them off after a poor performance in primetime, Raider Nation needs to rally around these young players and instill confidence in them because they are far from being the problem with the Las Vegas offense.
Raiders fans know better than to give up on team's young wide receivers
First and foremost, it should be put into perspective just how young these two players are. Both are just 22 years old, and they've played less than 10 NFL games, so any notions about them being busts or underwhelming should be dispelled.
Second of all, these two are trying incredibly hard to make things work in a terrible offensive situation with the Raiders, and they clearly care a great deal. On Friday's edition of Morning Tailgate on Raider Nation Radio, the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore included this tidbit about Thornton.
"[Thornton] was crying in the locker room last night,” Bonsignore said. “For anyone that wants to come at Dont’e Thornton and say what you want, you need to be in the locker room and understand how much that killed Dont’e Thornton to his heart, the mistakes that he made last night. He was bawling in the locker room, and I have a video that’s going to be out there later today of how much that really tore him apart."
Instantly upon reading this, Raider Nation should understand that they have a dedicated young player on their team. Thornton already has all the physical tools to be a great wide receiver, but if his emotions about underperforming can move him to tears, then he's likely taking all the mental steps he needs to take in order to improve.
Plus, Thornton ran a beautiful route on the ball that he dropped, and he was able to learn his lesson in a game that will ultimately be meaningless for Las Vegas. Bech also played just 14 snaps, and his key penalty was not exactly a mental error.
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Bech was flagged for a hold on a big Ashton Jeanty run, even though the illegal block had nothing to do with the play. Some may call this careless, but it could easily be classified as a player whose motto, "You gotta block to get the rock," made him overcompensate in his limited snaps.
Las Vegas went over seven possessions and about 28 minutes of game action without getting a first down. They were in Denver territory five times and scored just seven points, and Geno Smith was both hobbled due to injury and took two key sacks to put the Raiders out of field goal range.
Not only this, but the Las Vegas offense was shorthanded, as they were without three starters. Plus, the protection and play-calling were messed up all night, as they rolled out an injured Geno Smith numerous times, the team failed to get the ball to Brock Bowers consistently, and they slid protection away from Nik Bonitto and left him one-on-one against a running back on several occasions.
It is ridiculous to pin the Raiders' offensive issues just on these two rookies. Even so, Thornton took full responsibility for his drop and his pass interference penalty, as he answered questions maturely after the game despite the devastating loss, assuring fans that he will be better.
The Raiders took Bech in the second round for a reason, and Thornton was a Day 1 starter for a reason. As the season progresses and these two are able to fully envelop themselves in game scenarios, they'll learn on the job and be just fine despite these hiccups.