Tyquan Thornton Hopes To Be The Next Great NFL Wide Receiver From South Florida
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - In the heart of Overtown, you can find Tyquan Thornton getting in a workout at his local gym.
Regulars there stop him to say hello and wish the future NFL wide receiver good luck as he gets ready for the draft.
He's now training on the same fields where he played his high school ball while at Booker T. Washington.
"This is where I've been doing my training," Thornton said.
"I'm just working on my routes and becoming a complete receiver. I'm just enjoying the process. It's been a mind-blowing experience."
What's truly mind-blowing is his speed.
At the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, he ran an unofficial time of 4.21 in the 40-yard dash.
A time that would've been the fastest ever.
His official time came in at 4.28, making him the fastest receiver at the combine.
He said his phone and social media started blowing up seeing his Instagram following jump from 7,000 to 20,000.
"It was a blessing to be there," Thornton said of the combine.
Since then he has done workouts for a number of teams including the Saints, Packers, and most recently the Dolphins.
Running routes with Wes Welker.
"I was a Miami Dolphins fan. Just being from Opa-Locka, Miami Gardens is right up the road. I played at Bunche Park, and then we played at Betty T. Ferguson. That's right there by the stadium. Just always seeing that stadium it was a dream to play there. They have a great program. They're building something special there. Just working out with them was like a dream come true… it would be great to play for your hometown." Thornton said.
At Baylor University he averaged over 15 yards per catch this past season.
He racked up 948 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Bears.
Although he compares his game to Raiders wide-out Davante Adams, he hasn't forgotten his South Florida roots.
"I feel like Florida guys, we're different. You had guys like Jerry Jeudy, Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley, those types of guys growing up. So you just had to live up to that standard because they worked the right way and how they handled their business on the field – it was something special. So that's something we try to model our game after."
He adds "Growing up, the route running, you want to do dead leg, you want to double-stick them at the top and try to make somebody look bad you know embarrass the DB. We're crafty receivers, the finesse type of dudes, and that's what Florida dudes bring to the table."