{"id":41387,"date":"2022-05-10T16:00:19","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T20:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=41387"},"modified":"2022-05-10T16:55:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T20:55:57","slug":"given-steelers-history-potential-interest-in-thornton-is-good-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2022\/05\/10\/given-steelers-history-potential-interest-in-thornton-is-good-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Given Steelers’ History, Potential Interest in Patriots’ Thornton is Good News"},"content":{"rendered":"

There were a fair amount of New England Patriots<\/strong><\/a> fans and critics who questioned the selection of wide receiver Tyquan Thornton last week with some believing the team reached on him by taking him as early as they did in Round 2.<\/p>\n

The former Baylor standout saw the Patriots trade up from the #54 slot to #50 to land the speedy receiver, which left many wondering why, while even arguing that he would have been there for them regardless and questioned the decision to give up the assets to move up to grab him.<\/p>\n

It sounds like there might have been a good reason.\u00a0 According to ESPN\u2019s Jeremy Fowler, the Packers, Saints and others had Thornton\u00a0on their radar in Round 2<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>and there have been other reports that Pittsburgh, who picked at #52, was also potentially set to take him.\u00a0 They instead went with Georgia receiver George Pickens after the Patriots took Thornton off the board two picks earlier.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s somewhat significant because anyone who has followed the success the Steelers have had drafting that position over the years knows they\u2019ve done a solid job evaluating quality receivers.<\/p>\n

Going back to 2002, here\u2019s the list of guys they\u2019ve selected who have gone on to be productive players:<\/p>\n