Rice Transfer DB Tyrae Thornton Commits

[BillySee58]

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by BillySee58

[BillySee58]

Will come in as a redshirt junior. Made 11 starts at cornerback in 2019 as a redshirt sophomore, 4 starts as a redshirt freshman in 2018. Put his name in the portal before the season started.

https://riceowls.com/sports/football/roster/tyrae-thornton/5014

[Withers940]

[BillySee58]

You guys wanted transfers. At cornerback we have:

Tyrae Thornton, former starting CB at Rice

John Davis, Texas Tech transfer

Jordan Rucker, Purdue transfer

Logan Wilson, ULM transfer and 2019 Kansas State signee

[El Paso Eagle]

Target for keeping us entertained 

 

 

[MGNation92]

Love this pickup. He can come in and start right away. 

[Wag Tag]

WOW! Wasn't expecting another Secondary player, PB must on seen something of an additional need. We are now stacked in the secondary especially with the class coming in ?  Expect it to be a strength.

[MeanGreenTexan]

This one, to me, is more promising than the other DB transfers, simply because he has started several games of FBS football.

[greenminer]

How many players have we brought in since PB came on board?

[TheColonyEagle]

[NorthTexasSportsNetwork]

55 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

This one, to me, is more promising than the other DB transfers, simply because he has started several games of FBS football.

Had some big tackles against us in 2019. The forbidden Rice game of the 2010s

[emmitt01]

2 hours ago, Wag Tag said:

WOW! Wasn't expecting another Secondary player, PB must on seen something of an additional need. We are now stacked in the secondary especially with the class coming in ?  Expect it to be a strength.

I am not at all surprised.  A lot of the secondary’s failures were blamed on a lack of pass rush, but the truth is we consistently gave big cushions and still got beat a lot.  

Edited February 12, 2021 by emmitt01

[ntmeangreen11]

Well this is a solid addition, this is much better than even a JUCO with a really nice offer sheet. I don't see how anyone could think secondary will be a strength next season though, we've had terrible play at safety for years now. I hope we don't move Gaddie there permanently because we don't have anyone else that's capable. His track speed is better suited for corner. I was REALLY hoping Garnett Burke (who is now at Blinn CC btw) would be the answer there. 

Maybe, just maybe in a 4 man front with McCrae at strongside DE, Dion Novil at the 3 Tech, and the Murphy twins rushing from the weakside we'll have a decent pass rush for the first time since 2017 and that will help. I've been trying to find reasons to be confident we will be a CUSA contender next season and can't do it.

 

[BillySee58]

6 minutes ago, ntmeangreen11 said:

Well this is a solid addition, this is much better than even a JUCO with a really nice offer sheet. I don't see how anyone could think secondary will be a strength next season though, we've had terrible play at safety for years now. I hope we don't move Gaddie there permanently because we don't have anyone else that's capable. His track speed is better suited for corner. I was REALLY hoping Garnett Burke (who is now at Blinn CC btw) would be the answer there. 

Maybe, just maybe in a 4 man front with McCrae at strongside DE, Dion Novil at the 3 Tech, and the Murphy twins rushing from the weakside we'll have a decent pass rush for the first time since 2017 and that will help. I've been trying to find reasons to be confident we will be a CUSA contender next season and can't do it.

Unless we add a couple transfer safeties, I would expect Gaddie at safety. The only other scholarship safeties on our roster are Keelan Crosby, Alex Morris, and Jordan Nichols, then we have a couple true freshmen joining in the summer. 

Meanwhile at CB we have Stout, who is probably the most sure-fire starter, then a big group of guys who have experience and/or are touted transfers like Tyrae Thornton, Jordan Rucker, John Davis, Quinn Whitlock, and Logan Wilson. 

But Bennett could also choose to re-assess things from where guys were at the end of the season.

[Wag Tag]

21 minutes ago, ntmeangreen11 said:

Well this is a solid addition, this is much better than even a JUCO with a really nice offer sheet. I don't see how anyone could think secondary will be a strength next season though, we've had terrible play at safety for years now. I hope we don't move Gaddie there permanently because we don't have anyone else that's capable. His track speed is better suited for corner. I was REALLY hoping Garnett Burke (who is now at Blinn CC btw) would be the answer there. 

Maybe, just maybe in a 4 man front with McCrae at strongside DE, Dion Novil at the 3 Tech, and the Murphy twins rushing from the weakside we'll have a decent pass rush for the first time since 2017 and that will help. I've been trying to find reasons to be confident we will be a CUSA contender next season and can't do it.

 

Williams I think could be an answer and if so we could have a strong back end. Very disappointed with McCrae this past season. I really thought he would be dominating player. He seemed over powered at times which was surprising. . I hope an off-season and a new scheme proves beneficial. I can see PB having better talent than last year with the twins busting loose, because of increased size, strength and a 4 man front. Optimism!!

[MGNation92]

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

Unless we add a couple transfer safeties, I would expect Gaddie at safety. The only other scholarship safeties on our roster are Keelan Crosby, Alex Morris, and Jordan Nichols, then we have a couple true freshmen joining in the summer. 

Meanwhile at CB we have Stout, who is probably the most sure-fire starter, then a big group of guys who have experience and/or are touted transfers like Tyrae Thornton, Jordan Rucker, John Davis, Quinn Whitlock, and Logan Wilson. 

But Bennett could also choose to re-assess things from where guys were at the end of the season.

I could see Williams or West competing for a starting job for one of the safety spots. I'm more curious of who the nickel is gonna be

[UNTLifer]

https://247sports.com/Player/TyRae-Thornton-87675/college-206096/

[UNTexas]

The real question is, will a Rice University graduate be able to handle North Texas' academics?

[PlummMeanGreen]

14 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

Unless we add a couple transfer safeties, I would expect Gaddie at safety. The only other scholarship safeties on our roster are Keelan Crosby, Alex Morris, and Jordan Nichols, then we have a couple true freshmen joining in the summer. 

Meanwhile at CB we have Stout, who is probably the most sure-fire starter, then a big group of guys who have experience and/or are touted transfers like Tyrae Thornton, Jordan Rucker, John Davis, Quinn Whitlock, and Logan Wilson. 

But Bennett could also choose to re-assess things from where guys were at the end of the season.

I know, I’ve been guilty of Green koolade binge drinking, but could this Fall’s “D” be one of the big surprises & 180 degree turnarounds of CUSA & the Lone Star State (as in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football sportswriter’s staff)?
 

Edited February 12, 2021 by PlummMeanGreen

[UNT Texas Hooligan]

2 minutes ago, PlummMeanGreen said:

I know, I’ve been guilty of Green koolade binge drinking, but could this Fall’s “D” be one of the big surprises of CUSA & the Lone Star State as in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football sportswriter’s staff?  

There is literally nowhere for the D to go but up. Also, Bennett is a great D coordinator and we have been loading up on defensive talent all offseason. I can definitely see them surprise quite a few people. 

[MeanGreen_MBA]

If our defense can just be solid, not great, but solid. Our offense can carry us to 7 wins alone. We hold teams to 24 or less, we could be conference champs 

[UNTLifer]

I am glad he is here, and his highlight tape is pretty impressive, but he was offered by Rice and La-La out of HS with a sub .80 rating.  Seems he may have some work to do to land a starting spot.

[MGNation92]

3 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I am glad he is here, and his highlight tape is pretty impressive, but he was offered by Rice and La-La out of HS with a sub .80 rating.  Seems he may have some work to do to land a starting spot.

Reminds me a lot of Kemon Hall, and we know how good he was for us. I think he'll be a solid starter

[El Paso Eagle]

9 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

I am glad he is here, and his highlight tape is pretty impressive, but he was offered by Rice and La-La out of HS with a sub .80 rating.  Seems he may have some work to do to land a starting spot.

Think we sometimes get caught up too much in the ratings; I know I do. He has shown the skill sets at Rice that make this look like a good move by the good guys.

[UNTLifer]

I really like his video, but I think we are making some bold assumptions that he is just going to plug in and play.