Silver And Black Pride
Fellow rookie Dont’e Thornton Jr. garners a lot of attention but it’s the Las Vegas Raiders’ second-rounder that has skillset to be an ample No. 2 wide receiver
Any wide receiver who is 6-foot-5 and runs a 4.30-flat 40-yard dash is going to make NFL coaches heads turn. Not only coaches, but scouts other front office player personnel folk, and general managers.
Thus, when the Las Vegas Raiders selected Tennessee wideout Dont’e Thornton Jr. in the fourth-round of the 2025 NFL Draft this past April, it was dubbed a classic throwback Silver & Black draft pick. Standing 6-foot-5 and 205 pounds with explosive speed, the long-striding receiver fills the “scare you to death” speed the Raiders routinely deployed in other eras.
That all said, while Thornton is a head-turning prospect, it’s another wide receiver from the same draft class that merits even more attention: Second-round pick Jack Bech.
By The Numbers
Jack Bech, Wide Receiver, TCU
Standing 6-foot-1 and 214 pounds, the TCU product doesn’t bring the same tantalizing height/speed combo as his later-drafted fellow rookie, but what Bech does bring to the table is unbridled physicality, sure hands, and an uncanny ability to exceed expectations.
And that’ll play well for the Pete Carroll-led Raiders.
Las Vegas’ veteran head coach didn’t mince words and set the bar high for his desert marauders noting he expects the team to win a lot of games in 2025. The boisterous claim was to a point where even elite defensive end Maxx Crosby had this to say in response: “So we’ve got to be delusional enough to believe in what we can truly do. That’s the only way you can go out there and win.”
If you took a glance at Bech’s collegiate exploits, it’s of one that shatters initial impressions. While he brings good size to the wide receiver position, Bech’s game isn’t predicated on pure speed — unlike Thornton. Dating back to his days at LSU and TCU, Bech is a tactician and bully who pairs the cerebral aspect of route running along with pure physicality to batter defenders at the top of his routes. He’s an aggressive pass catcher who is more like a Dennis Rodman-type rebounder when the ball is in flight.
It’s that innate skill that helped Bech have a quantum leap in production from 2023 to 2024 at TCU — 12 receptions, 146 yards in ’23 to 62 catches, 1,034 yard, and nine touchdowns in his final season with the Horned Frogs.
Bech is also a fearless runner who has no qualms going into the danger zone of the middle of the field and has strong and reliable hands, too boot.
If there’s an NFL comparison to be made with Bech’s game it’s fellow Raider Jakobi Meyers.
Like his productive veteran counterpart, Bech has inside-outside versatility where he can line up and operate out...
