Dont'eThornton Jr.

News: 2 days agoRaiders head coach Pete Carroll said Wednesday that Thornton will be active for Thursday's road matchup against the Broncos, Ryan McFadden of ESPN.com reports.

Spin: Thornton was a healthy scratch Week 9, but he now rejoins Raiders' the wide receiver rotation following the team's decision to trade Jakobi Meyers to Jacksonville. The rookie fourth-round pick hasn't logged a catch across his last four regular-season appearances despite having drawn seven targets in that span. Across seven career games, Thornton has secured five of 19 targets for 94 yards.

ESPN Fantasy Projection: Thornton was selected by the Raiders in the fourth round of April's draft. He is a vertical threat who ranked at or near the top of this WR class in YPR (25.4), YPT (18.9), aDOT (16.4) and RAC (10.7) last season, albeit in a situational role (35 targets, 9% share). In fact, Thornton was used sparingly throughout his four collegiate seasons, totaling a 6.1% target share (second lowest in this WR class) and 65-1,426-10 receiving line. He posted the best speed score (120) among WRs at the combine (4.30 40 at 6-foot-4, 205 pounds). Thornton is likely headed for a situational deep-threat role behind Jakobi Meyers and perhaps Amari Cooper (not to mention TE Brock Bowers), and he should be drafted only in deep or dynasty formats.