New England Patriots Rookie Tyquan Thornton Hopes To Balance Skinny Frame With Strong Game

The average weight among the 40 wide receivers at the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine was 196 pounds.

As for eventual New England Patriots draft pick Tyquan Thornton, he stepped onto the scale to see 181 pounds.

“It’s a process,” Thornton told reporters of his lean frame following Tuesday’s session of organized team activities. “Coming in every day just trying to work and get better, making strides each and every day.”

Only Calvin Austin III, Charleston Rambo, Jahan Dotson, Wan’Dale Robinson and Jameson Williams carried less weight out wide than Thornton did in Indianapolis. But at 6-foot-2, the Baylor product carried it differently than most invitees, not unlike the 40-yard dash of 4.28 seconds that no prospect at his position could beat.

Thornton is now tasked with carrying it over in Foxborough, where he noted no new teammates have asked to race, and where his skinniness was recently noted amid praise from a veteran receiver.

“Tyquan’s dope. We got to get some weight on my guy, but bro is blazing, though,” Kendrick Bourne said in a press conference last week. “Good attitude also. He’s bought in. You can tell he cares.”

No weight goal has been set for Thornton, whom the Patriots traded up four draft slots to take at No. 50 overall in April. His goal is to get stronger more so than bigger, and doing so would help maintain track-level speed against NFL-level press coverage.

“Just staying true to myself, always looking myself in the mirror,” Thornton said. “This is my body type. This is my frame. I mean, I don’t see myself being 225 pounds. I’ve been thin all my life. But just getting stronger in the weight room, building more muscle so I can have that fast twitch.”

Fast twitch played a part in Thornton leading the Bears with 62 receptions for 948 yards and ten touchdowns as a senior last season. He had seven gains of 40-plus yards, including a 75-yard trip to the end zone versus West Virginia. Yet while the home runs were there for Thornton to hit, so were the singles and doubles over the middle of the field.

That type of contact did not fit the description of a straight-line deep threat. Thornton withstood the physicality it brought through 14 starts and 98 targets. In the end, Pro Football Focus charted the second-team All-Big 12 selection and East-West Shrine Bowl standout for a contested catch rate of 55.6% and a drop rate of 4.6%.

“I’m just working on being better each and every day,” added Thornton, “trying to get 1% better and work on my weaknesses. Route-running — I’m trying to work on moving my arms throughout my routes, in and out of my breaks, working on contested catches. … Your arms, that’s your bread and butter. So you’re going to need to use your arms to get in and out of your breaks.”

Thornton, who will turn 22 during training camp in August, has time to get in and out of his. For now, the rookie nears mandatory minicamp on a Patriots depth chart that features Bourne, DeVante Parker, Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor at the top.

There are different dimensions and skillsets to pull from.

“It’s a great room, great group of guys,” Thornton said. “Them guys lead us in the right direction. Me just personally watching them, how they have fun off the field and when it’s time to go, them guys can hit that switch and get locked in. That’s just something I’ve picked up from them, just the love they have for the game. Every day we’re trying to get better. We’re working. We’re pushing each other.”