Tyquan Thornton selected in 2nd round by New England Patriots
The New England Patriots selected Tyquan Thornton with the 50th-overall pick in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, following a trade with the Chiefs.
The 6-foot-3, 182-pound wide receiver ended his four years at Baylor with a career-best 62 receptions for 948 yards and ten touchdowns. Thornton also threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to RJ Sneed in a win over Texas.
Thornton was named an All-Big 12 2nd team selection by the AP and the league’s coaches.
The true senior from Miami took part in the East-West Shrine Bowl, where he turned heads and elevated his profile throughout the week of practices.
But Thornton’s biggest road to the Draft moment came at the NFL Combine. For a moment in Indy, Thornton had broken the event’s all-time 40-yard dash record with a 4.21, but the time was adjusted to an official 4.28, the fastest among all wide receivers and third-fastest time overall.
Thornton is the first Baylor offensive player off the board in 2022, the second pick total joining the Texans’ Jalen Pitre, and the third Bears wide receiver selected in the last four years, joining Jalen Hurd and Denzel Mims.
Lance Zierlein, a draft analyst for NFL.com, had this to say about Thornton: “There is a lot to like about Thornton's game, including his instincts, long speed and ability to create separation on the move. He's a vertical threat with the speed and poise to win deep and has an excellent feel for maintaining spacing when working against zone coverage. He's skinny and linear, which is a bad combination in defeating strong press-man corners on the next level. The poise and catch radius will work in his favor, but the success rate on contested catches will be lower than teams like, based upon his history and physical traits. Wideouts with his size profile have struggled mightily to succeed in the league, but Thornton's speed and talent make him worthy of a shot on Day 3.”