Scott Gulbransen
The Las Vegas Raiders are heading into the draft with receiver meetings stacked — Denzel Boston, KC Concepcion, Zachariah Branch, Ted Hurst. General manager John Spytek is doing his homework. That alone should tell second-year wide receivers Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton, Jr., everything they need to know about where they stand heading into Year 2.
Neither player is safe. Not even close.
Bech was a second-round pick out of TCU last year. Thornton came out of Tennessee in the fourth round. Combined, they produced 30 catches for 359 yards and zero touchdowns in 2025. For context, that’s what one average game from a legitimate No. 2 receiver looks like. Two draft picks, one offseason of hype and a year later the Raiders are holding pre-draft visits with every receiver they can get in the building.
That’s not a coincidence. That’s a message.
Jack Bech’s Case Is Stronger — But Still Unproven
Let’s separate the two, because they’re in different situations even if the narrative lumps them together.
Bech has a real argument that last season wasn’t a fair sample. Pete Carroll’s staff was famously dysfunctional in how they deployed rookies and Bech was one of the biggest victims. He played just 37% of offensive snaps. The 20 catches he did get were efficient, with 11 for first downs, and he had a 58.6% success rate on targets, but consistent opportunities never materialized in a season where the offense ranked near the bottom of the league in every meaningful category.
There’s a legitimate path here for Year 2. Kubiak’s offense is built for receivers like Bech. He’s a physical, route-savvy and willing to block in the run game. The Cooper Kupp comparison that followed him out of the draft isn’t just flattery. Kubiak had Kupp in Seattle last year and revived portions of his game that looked finished. If he can do that with a 33-year-old version of Kupp, what can he do with a 22-year-old who profiles similarly?
That’s the opportunity in front of Bech. He knows it. The question is whether he takes it.
Dont’e Thornton Is in a More Precarious Spot
Dont’e Thornton’s situation is harder to explain away. Ten receptions in his entire rookie season. The fourth-round pedigree offers some cushion, as expectations were lower, but the Raiders drafted him specifically because of his freakish 6-foot-4 frame and elite straight-line speed. That combination is supposed to translate immediately as a vertical threat, even in a limited role. It didn’t.
Speed that doesn’t show up on Sundays is just a combine number.
Thornton has the physical traits to carve out a role in Kubiak’s offense as a field-stretcher. But if Spytek uses a Day 2 pick on a receiver in this draft, and there’s real intel suggesting he might, Thornton’s path to consistent snaps gets narrower fast. A second-round receiver coming in pushes him down the depth chart behind Jalen Nailor, Bech, and potentially a new addition. At that point, you’re talking about a fourth receiver fighting for a roster spot, not a developing starter.
That’s a significant fall from where Thornton’s trajectory was supposed to be heading 12 months ago.
What the Draft Does to Both of Them
Here’s the part of this conversation that nobody is quite saying directly: what Spytek does in Pittsburgh next week will tell us exactly how much he believes in these two.
If the Raiders don’t take a receiver until Day 3, that’s a vote of confidence. It says Bech and Thornton are real pieces, Nailor is the veteran anchor, and the room just needs reps and real quarterback play to develop. Spytek said as much at the combine — there aren’t many true X receivers walking around, and if you’re lucky enough to get one, you hold on to them.
If Spytek takes a receiver with pick 36 or 67, the message is different. It doesn’t mean Bech and Thornton are done. But it means the organization isn’t waiting on them to figure it out.
Either way, 2026 is the year that answers the question. Kubiak is a real offensive coach with a real system and a real quarterback for the first time in either player’s career. The excuses that were legitimate in Year 1 — bad coaching, worse quarterback play, dysfunctional deployment — are gone.
Bech and Thornton have everything they need to make this work. What they haven’t shown yet is that they can.
That changes this season, or it doesn’t change at all.
Related: Kirk Cousins Ready to Mentor Fernando Mendoza: ‘It Will Be a Privilege to Work Together’
