When a new coaching staff comes in, things can go one of two directions for incumbent players: One is that it is a much-needed clean slate, and they can develop better or have a higher success level with new coaches. The other is that they get put on the hot seat, and their roster spot is in question.
Pete Carroll being one-and-done as Las Vegas Raiders' head coach can only be a good thing for a 2025 draft class that didn't get much run during its 3-14 rookie season. It only takes a glance to see how many of those second-year players are in line to legitimately compete for starting jobs this year.
In a recent mailbag post, Matt Holder of Silver and Black Pride was asked to name a few Raiders players who are going to lose their "scholarship/starting gig/roster spot" with a new head coach and coaching staff in place. He noted that Dont'e Thornton Jr. could be in some hot water.
Raiders analyst adds a little more heat to 2025 draft pick's seat
Among offensive players, Holder started by pointing to DJ Glaze's fairly tenuous hold on the starting job at right tackle, which is a great jumping-off point. Then he offered Thornton Jr. as a potential trade candidate who is going to have to step up his game to earn a spot in the pecking order at his position.
"I also think Dont’e Thornton Jr. is feeling the heat and might be a trade candidate during training camp, similar to Jakorian Bennett last year," Holder explained. "The Raiders have plenty of speed at wide receiver between Jalen Nailor, Tre Tucker and Malik Benson. So, Thornton is really going to have to step up, or he could be playing elsewhere next season."
Plenty of attention was paid to how inconsistent fellow rookie wide receiver Jack Bech's playing time was last season. But Thornton played fewer than 15 offensive snaps in four of his last five games, including eight or fewer snaps three times.
A raw prospect like him simply needed reps during a lost season for the team, and as it wound down, he inexplicably got less work. Thornton needs to show well during OTAs and training camp to solidify his place on the Raiders' roster; that is a fact.
His 6-foot-5 frame looks like a perfect fit for the tight-window, contested catch throws Fernando Mendoza was so adept at in college, and that itself may allow the second-year man to make the kind of impression he needs to. But he has strides to make as a receiver before he's even getting targets.
And if he doesn't make those leaps and bounds that the Raiders need him to, then perhaps Holder's prediction could come true. It would be harsh to give up on a fourth-rounder after just a year and a half, but crazier things have certainly happened, even in Las Vegas.
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