Dont’e Thornton Jr. finally made it onto the Raiders’ 53-man roster, but the timing said plenty.
Las Vegas waited until Tuesday to activate the rookie wideout, squeezing right up against the deadline after his 21-day window opened on Oct. 7.
If the Raiders had let Wednesday, Oct. 28 pass, Thornton Jr. would have been forced to sit out the rest of the season. Instead, he’s back - and now he has a real chance to answer for a team that has gotten very little from its receiver group outside of Tre Tucker.
That lack of production has been a problem all season, and the broader picture around the room hasn’t helped. Kirk Cousins’ limitations under center have been part of it, but the Raiders’ pass-catching group has also been thin across the board.
Thornton Jr. was not the only receiver on the comeback track. Jack Bech, another 2025 draft pick, hasn’t played since breaking his forearm in Week 3, but the expectation is that he’ll practice this week. There’s even a chance he could be available against the New York Jets on Sunday.
Still, the Raiders’ handling of Thornton Jr. stood out. Head coach Klint Kubiak was asked Monday whether the team would activate him and gave a notably vague answer.
"That's a decision we don't have to make 'til Wednesday."
The delay looked even more pointed when compared with the optimism surrounding Bech. Thornton Jr., the 2025 fourth-rounder, clearly wasn’t viewed the same way, and the late activation only sharpens the pressure on him to prove he belongs.
There’s some logic to the slow play. Thornton Jr. spent most of the offseason on the sideline, so he had to spend time catching up. But there were no practices between Kubiak’s Monday response and the point where the Raiders had to make the call, so the picture on Wednesday was never likely to change much.
It’s also possible the Raiders already knew exactly where this was headed and simply didn’t feel like saying so. That would fit the way Kubiak has operated all season.
When the move finally came Tuesday, Las Vegas made room by waiving defensive tackle Jonah Laulu. That’s no small decision, especially with Laulu being a Las Vegas native and someone who has been around for three seasons.
Activating Thornton Jr. doesn’t mean he’ll play against the Jets, or even that he’ll be dressed for the next stretch of games. But the Raiders also wouldn’t put him on the active roster unless they believed he could contribute soon.
If that doesn’t happen in the next couple of games, the choice to start his 21-day clock when they did will be hard to defend.
Thornton Jr.’s rookie season struggles weren’t unusual for last year’s Raiders class, and this year was supposed to give him a clean shot under Kubiak and the new staff. Instead, a hamstring injury has kept him from getting rolling. Now he finally has the runway.
Three full weeks of practice are behind him. The roster spot is his.
The chance is there. Now it’s on Thornton Jr. to turn it into something.
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Tre Tucker has been the clear bright spot at the position, and his recent play has only strengthened the sense that the Raiders need to make a priority out of keeping him around. With free agency approaching, the team is reportedly focused on re-signing him before he can test the market, a signal that Tucker may be the one wideout they can least afford to lose if this offense is going to have any stability going forward. [Read more 🡒]