Raiders 4th-round WR pick makes feelings known on playing with Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers

The Las Vegas Raiders were pumped with new offensive blood in the 2025 NFL Draft. In their first draft with Tom Brady as a minority owner, seven of their 11 picks were offensive players, including superstar running back Ashton Jeanty, taken with the sixth pick.

Besides Jeanty, Brock Bowers established himself as a superstar, making the First-Team All-Pro in 2024 as a rookie. For the new season, wide receiver Jack Bech will also join as a second-round pick with Geno Smith as their new quarterback via trade.

All those new faces are exciting for rookie Dont'e Thornton, taken in the fourth round of the 2025 draft out of Tennessee. On "The Zach Gelb Show," Thornton revealed his excitement about playing with the young stars:

"I'm definitely pumped up. In my head, we have Ashton Jeanty, we got Brock Bowers. I play receiver, but both of those guys are going to have a lot of attention from the defense, which only make it easier for me.

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"You have to decide - you can play man coverage, and there's a bunch of one-on-ones, but if you try to play zone, we’re going to run the ball. So we got a lot of weapons, and I think we’re gonna have a great offense for sure.”

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Thornton was the second receiver taken in the draft by the Raiders, after Bech, who went in the second round. He started his college career in Oregon before moving to Tennessee, finishing the 2024 season with 661 receiving yards and six touchdowns.

Raiders quarterback Geno Smith shows excitement following Ashton Jeanty's pick

Geno Smith, acquired by the franchise during the offseason after a trade with the Seattle Seahawks, shared his excitement on Twitter following Jeanty's announcement.

He celebrated with a one-word tweet with the franchise name:

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Smith's arrival during the offseason could be a significant moment for the franchise, which suffered from a lack of quarterback production in the previous years. He signed a two-year contract extension after joining the Raiders.

About the author

Henrique Bulio is an NFL and College Football journalist at Sportskeeda and the Editor-in-Chief of Pro Football Brasil. He has a total 13 years of experience working in American Football, and playing quarterback at an amateur level in Brazil has given him a unique perspective of the game.

Henrique follows the Philadelphia Eagles closely due to Michael Vick's historic performance on MNF against the Washington Commanders in 2010. His all-time favorite player is Ed Reed; he believes that Reed is the greatest safety to ever play the game. Bill Belichick gets the nod as Henrique's favorite coach for coaching the Patriots to glory over two decades.

If Henrique were to be able to go back in time and watch one game, it would be Super Bowl XLIX, where the Patriots and the Seahawks played a complete, back-and-forth game that concluded with one of the biggest talking points in NFL history.

Technical deep dives are Henrique’s specialty, and he ensures never to use misleading words in his articles, since he himself consumes a lot of information off the web. He has had the privilege of interviewing Cairo Santos, Lamar Jackson, Jim Harbaugh, Sean McDermott, Bruce Arians, Matt LaFleur, among others.

Aside from football, Henrique likes to play poker and Counter-Strike.

Know More

Raiders Nation! Check out the latest Las Vegas Raiders Schedule and dive into the Raiders Depth Chart for NFL Season 2024-25.

Edited by Chaitanya Prakash