With fewer than two weeks remaining before the start of the 2025 NFL season, veteran wide receiver Amari Cooper has signed a one-year deal to reunite with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Coming off a down year with the Cleveland Browns, and subsequent trade to the Buffalo Bills, Amari Cooper waited all off-season to sign a deal in free agency. The Raiders lack veteran wide receiver depth behind Jakobi Meyers, who publicly requested a trade. There are a few other rookie WRs who may make noise, such as Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton, but it’s worth noting that Cooper only signed after Meyers made his trade request known.
Unfortunately, Cooper’s archetype of big body outside wide receiver profiles as a steep drop off once production declines, unless he can claim a role in the slot. Tre Tucker and Brock Bowers mostly handle slot duty, leaving little pathway for Cooper to be a productive fantasy asset for 2025. He is an avoid in most formats, and worth last round speculative selection in bestball drafts.
Author: Bradley Stalder (@FFStalder)
The Las Vegas Raiders were missing both tight end Brock ...
Las Vegas Raiders rookie wide receiver Jack Bech is ...
Las Vegas Raiders rookie wide receiver Jack Bech opens his ...
The Raiders joined many other teams in signing a second-round talent when Las Vegas agreed to terms with TCU product Jack Bech
The Raiders have officially signed their entire 2025 draft class to contract. The NFL was awash with second-round talent holding out for appropriate guaranteed money, but as the dominoes began to fall, players followed suit. Las Vegas and Jack Bech (TCU) reached an agreement on a four-year deal, avoiding any fear of a holdout prior to training camp.
Bech had spent spring practices running drills with the second-team offense of the Raiders, mostly to avoid the bumps and bruises that can accompany first-team reps. Avoiding injury prior to signing a contract was paramount for the wide receiver. Bech hopes to slot into the Las Vegas starting lineup, but he has some ground to make up in camp. While he was running drills in the spring, fellow rookie Dont’e Thornton was running all the first-team reps.
Both players hope to make waves on the field, and fantasy managers echo the sentiment. Bech should challenge for a slot hybrid role with the team, where Thornton is a burner capable of taking the top off a defense. With Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers as lineup stalwarts, 24-year-old 2023 receiver Tre Tucker (66 career catches) finds his roster spot in jeopardy.
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
The Raiders rookie wide receivers are heading in opposite directions on Underdog.
The Las Vegas Raiders are not considered a team that is deep at wide receiver. Jakobi Meyers is an ever present value in best ball as he is going in round 6 on Underdog as the WR40. The offense is set to run through tight end Brock Bowers and stud rookie running back Ashton Jeanty in 2025.
With Jakobi Meyers being the best Raiders wide receiver by default, it leaves opportunity for another receiver to emerge. After the 2025 NFL Draft it was initially believed that Jack Bech would be the logical player to rise in Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly’s offense. Instead, it is Dont’e Thornton who is catching plenty of buzz as he has stood out in minicamp.
As this word has gotten out it has sent the two rookie receivers in opposite directions. In the last week on Underdog, Thornton has risen 9.7 spots into the early 17th round. Divergent from Thornton has been Jack Bech who has fallen 6.5 spots into the early 13th round.
Bech was selected in round 2 of the NFL Draft while Thornton went in round 4. There is still an appropriate gap in drafts, but as fantasy gamers get wise to Thornton’s ability the gap will certainly close. Clicking both Bech and Thornton at ADP will help build unique lineups and will be particularly unique when stacking with quarterback Geno Smith.
Author: Jeremiah Retzlaff (@coachretzlaff1)
Wide receiver Dont’e Thornton was selected in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders
Dont’e Thornton used all four years of his collegiate eligibility, playing two years in Oregon for the Ducks before moving on to the University of Tennessee to join the Volunteers. Las Vegas snatched him up at No. 108 in the fourth round.
Thornton was a part-time starter during all four seasons, never having started more than four games in any one campaign. Often deployed as a third wide receiver, his primary objective will be to stretch the field as he has a limited route tree, according to NFL.com. The Raiders harkened back to their late owner, Al Davis, with the selection. His eyes would have surely lit up when Thornton blazed his way to a 4.30 40-yard dash en route to the sixth-highest athleticism score among wide receivers at the combine.
The Raiders seem to know they have a raw wide receiver prospect in Dont’e Thornton. They had previously drafted receiver Jack Bech in Round 2, and still currently roster Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker, and tight end Brock Bowers catching passes from Geno Smith.
The lanky 6-foot-5 Thornton finishes his college career with 65 catches for 1,426 yards (a 21.9 average) and 10 trips to the endzone. He could be deployed in specialty packages as well as being a return option when the players break camp.
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
TCU’s Jack Bech was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 58 overall
The Las Vegas Raiders wheeled and dealt their way to five top 100 picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. After not having selections in mind at either spot, the team traded away picks No. 37 and No. 48 to the Dolphins and Texans, respectively, gaining extra selections along the way. When the dust settled and Vegas finally picked at No. 58 (Houston), TCU wide receiver Jack Bech was ready for the call.
Bech’s story was an emotional one. He lost his brother in a terror attack just under a month before he was set to showcase his talents in the Senior Bowl. Not only did he play, Bech hauled in the game-winning touchdown for the American squad and was named MVP. Now he moves on to the NFL and Las Vegas, who hopes he’ll provide more magic.
Bech is a deceptively big wide receiver, listed at 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds. The 22-year-old played all four years of his eligibility, the first two being at LSU before transferring to Texas Christian. His first three seasons totaled just 835 yards on 71 catches with four touchdowns. However, as a focal point of TCU’s offense his senior season, Bech exploded for 62 catches and 1,034 yards. He checked off nine trips across the plane and a yards per catch (YPC) over 16.0.
The Lafayette, LA native is repeatedly referred to as a playmaking threat from anywhere on the field who should inject even more excitement into the Raiders’ “Black Hole.”
Author: Sam Schneider (@BuyAndSellYou)
Wide Receiver Jack Bech showcased exactly what made him great at TCU this year by running one of the best gauntlet drills in this year’s combine.
While Jack Bech didn’t exactly leave Indianapolis with eye-popping athletic numbers (he chose not to run the 40 and had an uninspiring 34.5” vert), he was able to demonstrate some of his agility, strength and route running skills. Bech ended up 8th in his positional group in the 3-come and shuttle drills, and ended up 2nd to only ‘Mr. Swole’ Jaylin Noel (23 reps) in bench press with 19 reps. More importantly Bech showed to be fluid in his routes and had excellent hands in the on-field workouts, traits that match the tape from his 16.7 yard per reception, 1,000 receiving yard season at TCU.
It will be hard for Jack Bech to stand out on draft night. Like a lot of his classmates this year, Bech is projected with a wide range of outcomes in the NFL — he’s currently being mocked as a late day 2 NFL draft pick. I can’t really see him going any higher but there are plenty of teams that would do well to add a solid possession receiver with upside between rounds 3 and 5. The Jets, Bengals, Steelers, Texans, Jaguars would be good role and personnel fits for Bech… and if he lands on the Patriots or Titans he could be a sneaky Alpha on his own team.
Author: Lukasz Stec (@Lukasz_FF01)
