Criticisms of the Las Vegas Raiders' wide receiver room have come to life this preseason, and Klint Kubiak didn't leave much up to interpretation about the group with his recent comments. They are looking for someone in the building to step up, or they'll have to entertain adding an external option.
The justification for not adding much in the first place was the potential development of youngsters like Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr., who flashed at times during their rookie seasons but failed to put together solid overall campaigns due to a lack of opportunity or good coaching.
But the excuses are out the window for these players now, and Bech, to his credit, has taken a step this preseason. Thornton Jr., however, didn't make a tremendous first impression on the new coaching staff, and even worse, he's been unavailable due to injury for much of the summer.
With how desperate the Raiders seem to be for help at wide receiver, Thornton Jr. could find himself on the wrong side of the roster bubble if something doesn't change rather quickly.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. is no longer a lock to make Raiders' 53-man roster
When looking at the wide receiver room in Las Vegas, the only locks are Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor, Bech and rookie Malik Benson. Other than those four, nobody has really stood out from the pack, and it remains unclear if the team will carry five or six players at the position.
That could mean that only one of the remaining eight players in the room ends up on the 53-man roster, and as Lincoln Kennedy would say, you can't make the club in the tub. Thornton Jr. hasn't proved anything to Kubiak and his staff, and he will continue not to for as long as he's sidelined.
Thornton Jr. left practice early all the way back on August 7, and he didn't even start working on a side field again until August 16. But he still hasn't made a return to practice as of August 25, which was the last on-field session for the Raiders before the preseason finale.
He has missed both exhibition contests, and it is not looking good for him to suit up during the last game on Thursday against the San Francisco 49ers either. Simply put, Thornton Jr. is nowhere close to "roster lock" status after not standing out and spending the rest of the preseason injured.
Even more troublesome is the fact that Thornton Jr. was also banged up and didn't practice fully in the spring, either. The nature of both of these injuries hasn't been revealed, and it is unknown if they are related. But missed time is missed time, and that is always a bad thing.
Also working against Thornton Jr. is the fact that he doesn't have an extensive history working on special teams. Kubiak and the new set of Raiders coaches have emphasized this phase of the game, and if he can't deliver as a pass-catcher or a special-teamer, then that is really, really bad news.
It's not like Thornton Jr. was an early-round draft pick or the team made a big investment in him during free agency. He was a fourth-rounder last year, and Day 3 selections aren't guaranteed to make the roster even in their first season, let alone their second year.
Perhaps Las Vegas sticks him on the short-term IR and doesn't keep him on the initial 53-man roster, which would mean that Thornton Jr. would miss at least the first four weeks of the 2026 NFL season. That would be a way for the Raiders to buy some time, add another player and not give up on him.
But as it stands now, the young wideout's roster bid is in peril, especially with the head coach publicly saying that the team needs help at his position. Thornton Jr. could very well make this team and be a good NFL player, but there's no guarantee that he's even a Raider at this time next week anymore.
That is the cruel reality of the NFL, where availability is your best ability.
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