Is Tyquan Thornton Healthy Or Injured? Fantasy Football Injury Update

The New England Patriots have question marks at multiple positions on their roster heading into 2023, most notably at wide receiver.

One player whose status is very much up in the air is someone who is a part of that receiver group, and his name is Tyquan Thornton. He is young, talented, and fast, but he's also injured.

Is Thornton on the shelf for an extended period of time? Will he be ready for the start of the regular season? Let's dive in and take a closer look.

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Is Tyquan Thornton Healthy Or Injured?

Many players in the NFL have their jobs locked up, oftentimes even before the season begins. Such is not the case with Patriots wideout Tyquan Thornton. He has yet to prove himself early in his career, and the fact he can't stay on the field isn't helping either.

Head Coach Bill Belichick will go down as one of the greatest, if not the best coach in the history of the National Football League. However, he does not come without weaknesses. One of those is his inability to draft the wide receiver position.

In his many decades evaluating collegiate talent, he has arguably never drafted a WR that has made a significant impact in the NFL. His critics will argue that he has missed again, and Thornton is just another bust in the long line of Belichick busts at wide receiver. Thornton, the 50th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has missed all of training camp with a "soft tissue" injury according to ESPN's Mike Reiss. Last season, the 22-year-old missed the first four games of the season after suffering a broken collarbone in the preseason.

Should I Draft Tyquan Thornton In Fantasy Football?

If Thornton can find his way back to the football field, he certainly has the ability to make plays. There is a reason the team drafted him, and he showed glimpses of his brilliance in his rookie campaign. However, there are multiple factors preventing him from showcasing his skills even if he does maintain his health. In order, those roadblocks are DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kendrick Bourne, and perhaps even DeAndre Hopkins.

If you're a fantasy manager looking to draft sleeper wide receivers late this summer, Thornton is absolutely one guy to keep your eye on. His flashes of playmaking ability don't go unnoticed. However, his place on the Patriots' depth chart is deep, so deep, that he may not be able to climb to the top.

The advice here is to proceed with caution fantasy fans, and gulp, count on an injury or two to a few of the top pass-catchers in New England. It may be the only hope that Thornton has to prove himself to the Pats and to fantasy managers looking for value.

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