'Freaky talent': Dont'e Thornton says he's been clocked at over 24mph
Jalin Hyatt has done more than just makes plays — over and over and over — as a rookie in New York Giants training camp. He also set an NFL record by running 24 miles per hour during one practice, passing Tyreek Hill’s previous record of 23.2 miles per hour.
But Hyatt’s replacement at Tennessee, Oregon transfer Dont’e Thornton, says he’s ran even faster. After practice on Wednesday, Thornton was asked the fastest number he’s ever recorded. He said it was north of 24 mph during his time at Oregon.
“Last season they said the fastest I ran was 24.3 miles per hour,” Thornton said during his press conference, “when I was chasing down a block.”
Thornton, a Baltimore, Maryland, native, caught 26 passes for 541 yards and three touchdowns in 15 games at Oregon over the last two seasons. Last year he had 17 catches for 366 yards and a touchdown in 11 games.
Dont’e Thornton was No. 5 overall in On3’s NCAA Transfer Portal rankings
He was ranked as the No. 5 overall player in the NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason, according to the On3 rankings, and was the biggest named the Vols pulled in from the transfer market as they look to replace Hyatt and Cedric Tillman, a pair of third-round picks in the NFL Draft.
He’s feeling like a new receiver after the move to Tennessee.
“I feel a lot better,” Thornton said. “I’d say in my past years, I gained a lot of confidence in myself and my game. And now with me having the coaching staff that I feel really believes in me, that I’m actually great and can do it, that motivates me more to work even harder. So I feel like this is definitely the year for me.”
Thornton, along with sophomore Squirrel White, are the candidates to get the most snaps in the slot. Thornton is also working as an outside receiver as well.
“Right now I’m playing more in the slot,” Thornton said, “but I’m definitely learning both so that when opportunity comes for me to go in outside receiver, I’ll be able to know both of them.”
‘A guy that has size, that can run like that, is rare’
Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle last week described Thornton as “a freaky talent.”
“A guy that has size, that can run like that, is rare,” Halzle said. “He is rare. There are good players and then there are guys that have rare traits like that.”
“That guy is extremely rare at what he can do on a football field,” Halzle added.
Halzle also described Thornton as redshirt senior quarterback Joe Milton III’s shadow this offseason, doing everything he could to eliminate the learning curve after stepping into Tennessee’s uptempo offense.
“He’s always with Joe as well, like, alright, how do you want that?” Halzle said. “How do you see that? Like you see it the way I’m seeing it?
“(Thornton) spent a lot of time (in the offseason) understanding,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said during his press conference last week, “trying to grow inside of our offense really quickly. Looking forward to seeing him this fall.”
