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☹ Official 2020 Las Vegas Raiders thread ☹ (1 Viewer)

LawFitz said:
Ty Willy's salary is fully GTD this year, a/o 3/20. Seems that will ensure he makes the team, but hopefully they PUP him so that they can keep one of the youngins for the first six weeks.
If he's practiced they can't PUP him, and if they IR him now he's gone for the season. 

 
Could they put him on the 8 week IR?
He has to be on the opening day roster to do so, but yes.  Problem is that means they have to cut one of those young'ns, hope they clear waivers, then IR TW the next day and try to re-sign the cut player.  Lots of teams try it, some succeed some don't.  We tried it with Doss and he got scarfed a year or two ago but we ended up with him later on.

 
So we don't need to tell the Edwards hype train thread but the stuff coming out about Edwards really reminds me of Denarius Moore"s rookie camp. I know he didn't pan out longterm and is a different profile player but he flashed in camp and it translated to games his rookie year. For some reason something seems similar. Think he's going to be solid his 1st year out.

Carr really has it all this year. Stud TE, deep threat, underneath guys and backfield. Should be good!
I don't see it. 

Edwards seems to me a guy that was heavily discounted in draft guru stock but we knew we were getting a good player that was discounted. Moore was more of a surprise to everyone including us (we took him in the 5th or 6th round?). And he flashed but never fully panned out. 

The hype and talk and play feels more like Waller of last year to me. Though a bit different because Waller came out of no where after his struggles so there weren't many eyes on him where as everyone is looking at the rookies, specially the guys from the first few rounds. 

Agreed. I am a big Carr supporter. I believe in him. He has the cast around him (barring injury setbacks or anything else) to succeed on a higher level. I do think the perception from his detractors of him being garbage or Marriota would supplant him etc is silly and not supported by the actual play and stats other than the WINS/LOSSES which I maintain is because of the team as a whole. He has weapons like he has NEVER had before. We seem to have drafted really well at WR, brought on some vets for depth and had a couple of pieces there to turn a weakness into a strength. TE is top heavy and deep. RB top heavy with a rising star. A solid OL that has real potential to be a top 3 OL. So, no excuses on the offense. More points need to be scored. Also, to help win games we need a D and it looks like we have much improved there. Certainly we have at LB. 

 
Carr really has it all this year. Stud TE, deep threat, underneath guys and backfield. Should be good!
Speaking of Carr, boy, the reports about him are glowing. Hope they're right and that when the bullets start flying he doesn't regress.

Anybody keeping up on the CeeDee Lamb news out of Cowboy camp? Also glowing. Still think the Raiders are gonna regret taking Ruggs over him--short and long-term. Hopefully Edwards fulfills his promise and takes some or most of the sting out of that possibility.

 
Zay Jones trying to crack Raiders' deep receiver rotation

Wed Aug 26 4:36pm ET
By W.G. RAMIREZ
Associated Press

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) Las Vegas wide receiver Zay Jones has become known for a levitating move that brings him to his feet after a reception, a highlight reel-quality feat that has mystified fans and teammates during the first four years of his career.

After an impressive showing during training camp, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound wideout is hoping his next trick will be floating into the Raiders' deep receiving rotation.

''The competition level is high,'' Jones said Wednesday after practice. ''I love this group. I think this group is very diverse. Guys who bring a lot to the table. We got guys who can do a lot of things. There's not a dull moment in the receiver room. Guys are competing, guys are making plays, guys are making crazy grabs and it's just encouraging to see. It motivates me to be better and to be a leader for this group.''

Acquired from Buffalo in exchange for 2021 fifth-round draft choice, Jones joined the Raiders last October. He appeared in 15 games with nine starts between both teams, finishing with 20 catches for 147 yards after landing in Oakland.

Yet with the likes of Tyrell Williams, Henry Ruggs III, Nelson Agholor, Bryan Edwards, Hunter Renfrow and Marcell Ateman in the mix, it's conceivable Jones was on the bubble before training camp began.

After a strong showing the past few weeks, and with Williams suffering a torn labrum in his shoulder that he will try to play through, Jones has emerged as a bright spot in what may be the Raiders' best receiving corps since 2016, when Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree led the group.

''We can see a huge difference in Zay from last year to this year,'' general manager Mike Mayock said. ''I'm proud of the way he came to camp. Nelson Agholor is on a mission, and Zay Jones is also. They're in as good of shape as any two players we have on the team. Their route running for both of them has improved. Their concentration has been outstanding, and I think our coaches have a plan for those guys.''

The work began earlier this year, when Jones settled into Las Vegas looking to become comfortable in his new surroundings while working with quarterback Derek Carr and establishing a relationship with several others over the summer.

Jones, who has 110 receptions for 1,184 yards and nine touchdowns during his career, said it was critical to commit during the offseason after struggling with the midseason transition last year and never getting a chance to build a bond with the Raiders.

''I was playing catch up with the team all last year,'' Jones said. ''This summer was very important for me, just to get around the guys, especially get around (Carr). Understand his language, the way he talks. Just build a genuine relationship with him, even outside of football because the football stuff was going to take care of itself. Building a bond and relationship with those guys and enjoying them and getting to know them. Those are guys you're going into battle with during the season.''

Jones trimmed down in order to be more fluid and provide speed within the receiving corps, something he knew first-round pick Ruggs would bring immediately. He also wanted to master the playbook.

''When you come into the middle of a season and you're trying to learn someone's playbook, there's small details that you may miss,'' Jones said. ''Once you get the flow of it and once you build that relationship with your quarterback and you start to understand the verbiage in it, things begin to slow down.

''Now I can practice these routes at full speed without hesitation because I know what I'm doing. Now I can put my own flavor on things. Now I can add a little bit to the route. ... With time, it just naturally developed. I feel more confident. This is one of the most confident times that I've had in the NFL.''

 
Speaking of Carr, boy, the reports about him are glowing. Hope they're right and that when the bullets start flying he doesn't regress.

Anybody keeping up on the CeeDee Lamb news out of Cowboy camp? Also glowing. Still think the Raiders are gonna regret taking Ruggs over him--short and long-term. Hopefully Edwards fulfills his promise and takes some or most of the sting out of that possibility.
I hate to see the Jeudy reports also. Guys are saying he's as polished as a 3 year vet already. We'll just wait and see. I'm going to bite my tongue and let it play out. 

 
Speaking of Carr, boy, the reports about him are glowing. Hope they're right and that when the bullets start flying he doesn't regress.

Anybody keeping up on the CeeDee Lamb news out of Cowboy camp? Also glowing. Still think the Raiders are gonna regret taking Ruggs over him--short and long-term. Hopefully Edwards fulfills his promise and takes some or most of the sting out of that possibility.
I am not Raiders homer but one of friends is... He didnt like Ruggs at first when Raiders took him as first receiver in NFL draft and he really wanted Lamb.  But I think he starts to warm to the idea of Ruggs.  One thing I do know that their GM Mike Mayock and HC Jon Gruden highly coveted Ruggs prior to the draft and they desperate need a major speed on the field for their offense.  Gruden's prior history of feeding WR#1 has to be considered on Ruggs' potential success this year and beyond. 

 
I am not Raiders homer but one of friends is... He didnt like Ruggs at first when Raiders took him as first receiver in NFL draft and he really wanted Lamb.  But I think he starts to warm to the idea of Ruggs.  One thing I do know that their GM Mike Mayock and HC Jon Gruden highly coveted Ruggs prior to the draft and they desperate need a major speed on the field for their offense.  Gruden's prior history of feeding WR#1 has to be considered on Ruggs' potential success this year and beyond. 
Ruggs will help the offense but Edwards fits the offense and Carr better. He has a real chance at starting out hot/fast this season. He reminds me a little of Andre Johnson. God I hope I'm right too. I could use that on my dynasty team. 

 
 God I hope I'm right too.
I've been reading about this. With Carr under center, they studied what Edwards's role would be in the offense as the X. Turns out, Carr don't like to throw to the X much. At all. All those people that are saying that Carr seriously limits the upside of his outside receivers might be correct statistically as well as observation-wise. It's a crap shoot for sure, made all the more difficult by a QB that won't be playing to his own strength if he looks Edwards's way. I'd link, but I can't find it. I think it was a PFF piece. 

 
I've been reading about this. With Carr under center, they studied what Edwards's role would be in the offense as the X. Turns out, Carr don't like to throw to the X much. At all. All those people that are saying that Carr seriously limits the upside of his outside receivers might be correct statistically as well as observation-wise. It's a crap shoot for sure, made all the more difficult by a QB that won't be playing to his own strength if he looks Edwards's way. I'd link, but I can't find it. I think it was a PFF piece. 
Yeah i saw that. Tyrell Williams seemed to start out hot. Then he got hurt and he wasn't the same. Didn't Crabtree play the X receiver position? I'm not sure but that's the last decent big body receiver Carr has had I think. He must have played a different position because he had 500 targets in 4 seasons. Some of Carr's best years too. 

 
Ruggs will help the offense but Edwards fits the offense and Carr better. He has a real chance at starting out hot/fast this season. He reminds me a little of Andre Johnson. God I hope I'm right too. I could use that on my dynasty team. 
I'm with you on this one (full disclaimer: I have Ruggs in my dynasty PPR league).  I had a chance to take Edwards due to his tantalizing upside, however, his injury history isn't withstanding. 

 
Aznflyer14 said:
I am not Raiders homer but one of friends is... He didnt like Ruggs at first when Raiders took him as first receiver in NFL draft and he really wanted Lamb.  But I think he starts to warm to the idea of Ruggs.  One thing I do know that their GM Mike Mayock and HC Jon Gruden highly coveted Ruggs prior to the draft and they desperate need a major speed on the field for their offense.  Gruden's prior history of feeding WR#1 has to be considered on Ruggs' potential success this year and beyond. 
As a Raider homer, there are plenty of posts from me in this thread pre-draft arguing that if you wanted a speedster then take a defensive player (assuming one was there that was worth it) and swing back around at 19 and take him there. To be very honest, this opinion was based on not doing a whole lot of digging into Ruggs to begin with an mostly going off draft guru reviews with a big heaping of bias against WR speedsters historically that are better track stars than football players. I knew he had some great athletic ability as evidenced by the basketball videos we kept seeing before the draft but overall, I was not excited about his pick based on that. 

After the draft, I researched him much more and the more I researched him the more I fell in love with him. I came away feeling like he was much more than just a field stretching speed guy. He has awesome hands and concentration with only 1 drop in 2019 and 4 total in his collegiate. He consistently made big plays. His biggest potential worry is can he play off of NFL level press coverage. I know that this is a HUGE thing that Mayock believes is the make or break on making the jump from college to the NFL so I will defer to his judgement on this but though his stature is a bit smaller he has shown the ability to bounce off tackles and fight contested balls. I think he can defeat it and if so, I love his ability to not only produce individually but to open up the whole offense system for success as a unit. I like his addition being perhaps greater total sum than his part adds. 

 
If you fast forward to 6 minutes in...

https://youtu.be/yq5dgQ_AjHM

...Derek does not look at all comfortable talking about Mariota being there.
Try rewinding 30 seconds. Looks absolutely comfortable when he was asked point blank about the competition in the QB room. I think this "awkwardness" you are reading way too deep into is more about Carr running out of things to say about why he's always being second guessed by the media. I think he makes that 100% clear in this clip (@6:30 to be exact).

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tyrell Williams has a torn labrum in his shoulder, Rapoport reported, per sources. He's going to try to play through it after rehabbing for a few weeks, Rapoport added.
This guy can't stay healthy. That he's torn this labrum before -- even if he's played through it before -- is more negative than positive IMO. 

Williams is pretty good, but this just gives the young guys more opportunity.  I really like the way Edwards, Ruggs and Renfrow's skill set compliment each other.
Totally on board with this. I think those guys can really be a trio of solid receivers who, to your point, each bring something different -- and much needed to our offense -- to the table. I would love having Ty succeeding -- healthy or playing through injury -- but I think these guys are our future. With a truncated preseason, I do wonder, if Williams sits, how this impacts the passing game as Ruggs and Edwards handle their NFL learning curve on the fly.

Anybody keeping up on the CeeDee Lamb news out of Cowboy camp? Also glowing. Still think the Raiders are gonna regret taking Ruggs over him--short and long-term. Hopefully Edwards fulfills his promise and takes some or most of the sting out of that possibility.


I hate to see the Jeudy reports also. Guys are saying he's as polished as a 3 year vet already. We'll just wait and see. I'm going to bite my tongue and let it play out. 
I hear you both -- I was shocked with the pick as well at the time. But that was four months ago (which in 2020 feels like a year and a half).

It's way past time to move on. Ruggs is our guy. 

I wouldn't be surprised if he's motivated to prove that he's every bit as good -- or even better -- than guys who had higher stock going into the draft.

 
I hear you both -- I was shocked with the pick as well at the time. But that was four months ago (which in 2020 feels like a year and a half).

It's way past time to move on. Ruggs is our guy. 

I wouldn't be surprised if he's motivated to prove that he's every bit as good -- or even better -- than guys who had higher stock going into the draft.
I'm not complaining. I'm giving Gruden/Mayock the benefit of the doubt. I hooted and howled over the Mack trade and in the end I think it was the right move given our team's roster at the time so I need to check myself. Also agree with Chad. I think people see Ruggs' 40 time and they just assume he's another classic Raider pick (reach), I know that was my 1st reaction. But really he wasn't known so much for his deep routes in college so it's kind of annoying (lazy) when people just assume that's all he is. Also doesn't he have like the largest hands in the WR class or close to it?

 
The Las Vegas Raiders are hosting former New York Giants fourth-round pick quarterback Kyle Lauletta and ex-Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Kyle Shurmur today for workouts, Rapoport reported.

 
 But really he wasn't known so much for his deep routes in college so it's kind of annoying (lazy) when people just assume that's all he is. Also doesn't he have like the largest hands in the WR class or close to it?
Agree that straight line speed is not all that he is -- though the guy's one of the fastest receivers in the NFL, so that break-neck speed immediately helps take the top off of coverage.

But it also helps him out-run coverage on slants and run away from tacklers in screens, helping his YACs.

In college, he thrived on post vertical and sluggo routes -- these are downfield, stretch the field routes, so arguably he was indeed known for deep routes.

But what made him so successful wasn't just straight-line speed but his lightning fast feet -- using stutter steps/sticks off the line to turn the defender before breaking past them vertically downfield, or creating separation out of the slot. 

It's not just his speed but his quickness, too.

 
It's way past time to move on. Ruggs is our guy. 

I wouldn't be surprised if he's motivated to prove that he's every bit as good -- or even better -- than guys who had higher stock going into the draft.
To be vocally self critical and eat some of my own crow, I drafted Jeudy over Ruggs last night in my fantasy draft.  :blush:

But I did have some reasons.

One was because Jeudy had higher value based on my projections (FBGs seems to share that take as well) so better VBD at that point - not a huge separation, but enough of a drop off in value to swing me.

The other reason is that I already had Jacobs and Waller. Needed a little diversification in that portfolio.

 
In watching Ruggs III seriously, I noticed that his hands were indeed large, and that the lazy comparisons to Heyward-Bey were just silly. DHB never quite knew where he was on the field. He was uncoordinated when not exercising straight-line speed. Not a good route runner who often found himself catching balls out of bounds because he didn't know how to space himself on the field to get open. He was also a body catcher. Ruggs has none of these issues, at least he didn't in college. He's very controlled in his lightning quick speed. This does not mean he's a human joystick like Tyreek Hill, who is in another class than even Ruggs when it comes to open-field running. (Indeed, PFF notes that Ruggs struggled as a return man in college because he doesn't have the juke moves like Tyreek.) But the overall point is taken. He's quite the package, and but for an inch or two in height would be easily considered worthy of going first among receivers in the draft.

 
Agree that straight line speed is not all that he is -- though the guy's one of the fastest receivers in the NFL, so that break-neck speed immediately helps take the top off of coverage.

But it also helps him out-run coverage on slants and run away from tacklers in screens, helping his YACs.

In college, he thrived on post vertical and sluggo routes -- these are downfield, stretch the field routes, so arguably he was indeed known for deep routes.

But what made him so successful wasn't just straight-line speed but his lightning fast feet -- using stutter steps/sticks off the line to turn the defender before breaking past them vertically downfield, or creating separation out of the slot. 

It's not just his speed but his quickness, too.
And hands. He doesn't drop the ball. 4 times in his entire college career while at speed... that is mind blowing to me.

 
Lotta good insights on Ruggs as I knew there would be. Agree with Chad that he has the potential to make everybody around him better so you can't discount that. And after living with Cooper's drops for a couple years, it will be refreshing to have a guy who should catch most everything thrown his way. I consider Ruggs light years better than DHB...no comparison there. I think Ruggs can pan out very well. Just think, all things considered, Lamb and/or Jeudy would have been better picks and will have better careers.

 
Lotta good insights on Ruggs as I knew there would be. Agree with Chad that he has the potential to make everybody around him better so you can't discount that. And after living with Cooper's drops for a couple years, it will be refreshing to have a guy who should catch most everything thrown his way. I consider Ruggs light years better than DHB...no comparison there. I think Ruggs can pan out very well. Just think, all things considered, Lamb and/or Jeudy would have been better picks and will have better careers.
The ability to make the O better by stretching the field is why I assume that the Raiders chose Ruggs.  Waller and Renfrow should have more room to operate with Ruggs taking the top off.  If Edwards lives up to the hype, the Raider WR Corp is solid all around.  

The big three rookie WRs have serious potential.   We may not know which one is best for years.  Jeudy is most polished but probably has the worst QB of the bunch at the moment.   Lamb entered a busy WR Corp.   

 
The Las Vegas Raiders are hosting former New York Giants fourth-round pick quarterback Kyle Lauletta and ex-Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Kyle Shurmur today for workouts, Rapoport reported.
Been hearing that Mariota has been having a very poor camp. I wonder if these signings are, in part, a reaction to hi poor performance. Do the Raiders take a big cap hit if they cut him  this season?

 
Been hearing that Mariota has been having a very poor camp. I wonder if these signings are, in part, a reaction to hi poor performance. Do the Raiders take a big cap hit if they cut him  this season?
The first year money was fully guaranteed. I am not sure about the second year. 

 
In watching Ruggs III seriously, I noticed that his hands were indeed large, and that the lazy comparisons to Heyward-Bey were just silly. DHB never quite knew where he was on the field. He was uncoordinated when not exercising straight-line speed. Not a good route runner who often found himself catching balls out of bounds because he didn't know how to space himself on the field to get open. He was also a body catcher. Ruggs has none of these issues, at least he didn't in college. He's very controlled in his lightning quick speed. This does not mean he's a human joystick like Tyreek Hill, who is in another class than even Ruggs when it comes to open-field running. (Indeed, PFF notes that Ruggs struggled as a return man in college because he doesn't have the juke moves like Tyreek.) But the overall point is taken. He's quite the package, and but for an inch or two in height would be easily considered worthy of going first among receivers in the draft.
But we gotta give DHB his props. It was apparent pretty quickly that he wasn't an alpha but he stuck on the Steelers roster for awhile as special teams/WR5. That was all through hard work and putting his ego in the back seat. Ended up being a great teammate and accepting his role and not fizzling out as most diva 1st rd WR's would. Much respect.

 
But we gotta give DHB his props. It was apparent pretty quickly that he wasn't an alpha but he stuck on the Steelers roster for awhile as special teams/WR5. That was all through hard work and putting his ego in the back seat. Ended up being a great teammate and accepting his role and not fizzling out as most diva 1st rd WR's would. Much respect.
Yep. Most guys would be out of the league in three years. He was overmatched, but game. Not his fault Al Davis drafted him that early in that draft. (He went before Crabtree, if I'm not mistaken.)

 
Yep. Most guys would be out of the league in three years. He was overmatched, but game. Not his fault Al Davis drafted him that early in that draft. (He went before Crabtree, if I'm not mistaken.)
Yep. Crabtree is who I was dying for but it ended up that he would have been the wrong pick also. We got him at the perfect time. Seems like he was a major headache his 1st few years.

 
Yep. Crabtree is who I was dying for but it ended up that he would have been the wrong pick also. We got him at the perfect time. Seems like he was a major headache his 1st few years.
I remember him being a problem and not as great as his billing out of Tech.

 
https://raiderswire.usatoday.com/2020/08/27/report-raiders-de-carl-nassib-not-standing-out-in-practice/

Looks like we may have swung and missed on Nassib but on the other side have been hearing good things about Crosby, Ferrell and even Key (which surprises me, I had all but written him off). 
I tell my son all the time that you cannot just turn it on like a light switch once the games begin. You have to set your mind/body/soul to on mode everytime you hit the field as a matter of creating habit, so that the games become the easy part in a sense. They are the time when you can let everything else go and rely on your instincts + the habits you've developed during the multitude of practice hours. 

There are exceptions to the above generally, but they are few and far. Carl Nassib doesn't strike me as one of them. He's prolly too distracted counting his stonk market returns since June. 10% per year, bro!

 
Been hearing that Mariota has been having a very poor camp. I wonder if these signings are, in part, a reaction to hi poor performance. Do the Raiders take a big cap hit if they cut him  this season?
They made Mariota the highest paid backup QB he isn't getting cut based on training camp practices.  I would think bringing these guys in is to develop a list of guys to sign if someone gets hurt or covid during the season and they need a #2 or #3 QB on the roster for a couple weeks.

 
Been hearing that Mariota has been having a very poor camp. I wonder if these signings are, in part, a reaction to hi poor performance. Do the Raiders take a big cap hit if they cut him  this season?
I haven't seen Mariota at practice lately. Mayock/Gruden aren't saying, but I think he's battling an undisclosed injury. They only have 2 QBs getting ready for the season in Carr and Peterman. Doesn't hurt to have a Plan B and Plan C ready to in case COVID strikes. 

And I think every QB has a very poor camp in the first year of Gruden's system. Mariota isn't going anywhere right now.

 
The Raiders signed one of my favorite players a couple years ago, Sharif Finch. He was a college DE and a prime UDFA that the Titans paid a lot for. He is so well drilled like a coach's kid or somesuch. His rookie year was Landry having one speed move he always did and the coaches wanting him to use more moves in games- even though he practiced them, in games he wouldn't. The second string comes on in preseason and In comes Finch and he had five or six sacks against the second stringers, each with a different move. The story of that offseason was how the Titans traded up to get Landry, essentially a first teamer, in the second round. Well, the UDFA was besting him in every way.

https://www.musiccitymiracles.com/2018/8/13/17680252/sharif-finch-put-on-a-pass-rushing-clinic-in-the-middle-of-the-titans-packers-preseason-game

He was a college DE that converted to OLB very fast. He's not fast and athletic so much as super well coached and intelligent. He's no slouch athletically, I just mean what catches your eye. He started by around week four or so. From week 8 on, during his rookie year, he had the highest OLB rating PFF of any rookie and Evans had the highest ILB rating of any rookie for that point too. They had high 80s scores and ranked well amongst all LBs during that time too.

It looked like the Titans did just fine moving on from Orakpo and Morgan but Landry has been the same one trick pony and he's not that good against the run. They've traded for a slew of backup LBs and signed a bunch and .....Vrabel has made more than 70 LB transactions since he took over as coach. It's pretty bad with him tinkering and not leaving well enough alone at his old position. 

Sooo last season, Correa had a great preseason and Finch had to share time with him. The great attitude guy not wanting to relish his spot, he  hit the weight room too hard and hurt his back.

The Titans cut him and shocked all us Titans fans.

Several teams (almost all re Twitter) put a claim in for him and the Bengals got him with their first claim. He failed their physical, the Titans got fined and agreed to an injury settlement, and then this Covid stuff...he finally got a couple tryouts. He thanked the Browns and Raiders for trying him out (telling ya, I love this kid and you will too if ya give him a chance) and then signed with the Raiders.

Going from 3-4 to 4-3 it appears he's going to play DE. He was 6-4 and a well built 260. I don't know if that's heavy enough for end. The Titans played nickel so often and he was the end in those sets, so he's probably OK. 

I don't know how his back is. Clearly it was bad enough to make the football world NOT sign him for several months.

Still though, the Raiders could have got a gem here and again, just two years ago he was a top LB by PFF for the second half of the season

 
I haven't seen Mariota at practice lately. Mayock/Gruden aren't saying, but I think he's battling an undisclosed injury. They only have 2 QBs getting ready for the season in Carr and Peterman. Doesn't hurt to have a Plan B and Plan C ready to in case COVID strikes. 

And I think every QB has a very poor camp in the first year of Gruden's system. Mariota isn't going anywhere right now.
Gruden said he was sore on the radio. His two offseason surgeries were bugging him and it was starting to show in mechanics and they didn't want to wreck the progress he made altering those mechanics. Mariota didn't want to sit, coach's decision. 

Mariota has only been soso at practices. I read anything and everything I can and pay for access to many sites. There's a hater reporter that doesn't point out anything good so ya might keep your eye open for him. Otherwise, pick any other reporter, and it's like 4 TDs and 2 INTs. They'll write beautiful pass to soandso, ran well up the sideline on that one, misread and poor throw on that one....you'll see just honest observant reporting. 

Gruden seems to love his athleticism and you can't miss the smiley pictures and statements. I'm sure y'all know of the wildcat QB from Kentucky that was a RB last year, QB two years ago. It's clearly Carr's team, no doubt, but Gruden also seems to have something up his sleeve with mobility plays.

 
NBC Sports reporting Raiders just traded for Raekwon McMillan. Former OSU LB. 
Raiders really overhauled and upgraded the LB corps this offseason. Don’t know if Raekwon is good or not, just nice to see the Raiders investing there.  

 
Raiders really overhauled and upgraded the LB corps this offseason. Don’t know if Raekwon is good or not, just nice to see the Raiders investing there.  
Former 2nd rounder with starting experience. It looks like we gave a fourth for him and a fifth round pick. If things land right that means a mid to late round fourth for what I expect to be a early to mid fifth. Doesn't sound like much of an investment. I don't remember too much about Raekwon but I do remember him getting a fair amount of good press coming out in 2017. 

 
I tell my son all the time that you cannot just turn it on like a light switch once the games begin. You have to set your mind/body/soul to on mode everytime you hit the field as a matter of creating habit, so that the games become the easy part in a sense. They are the time when you can let everything else go and rely on your instincts + the habits you've developed during the multitude of practice hours. 

There are exceptions to the above generally, but they are few and far. Carl Nassib doesn't strike me as one of them. He's prolly too distracted counting his stonk market returns since June. 10% per year, bro!
Counting his compounded interest was what ot was. 🤣

 
They made Mariota the highest paid backup QB he isn't getting cut based on training camp practices.  I would think bringing these guys in is to develop a list of guys to sign if someone gets hurt or covid during the season and they need a #2 or #3 QB on the roster for a couple weeks.
Yea, Mariota isn't getting cut this year but that seems to be more about the contract than his play. From what I have followed, he actually started off pretty hot but then has gone downhill. 

As I said before, there is no QB competition here. Mariota isn't nearly as good as Carr.

 
Some time spent digging into Raekwon McMillan. 

The short of it is that he is a stud run stuffer but bad liability in coverage. Look to him being on field in early downs and short/goaline packages. At the end of his rookie contract. 

For the cost (both trade and contract) and being a very nice complimentary to Littleton's superb cover skills and Kwiatkoski all around versatility I feel this is another great move by Mayock. I had been wondering if we went from one extreme to another in the LB core from being not good enough in coverage to being too focused on coverage. It seems bringing him in, as long as he us used well in the right spots, will be a great addition.

 
Ed Wood said:
Lotta good insights on Ruggs as I knew there would be. Agree with Chad that he has the potential to make everybody around him better so you can't discount that. And after living with Cooper's drops for a couple years, it will be refreshing to have a guy who should catch most everything thrown his way. I consider Ruggs light years better than DHB...no comparison there. I think Ruggs can pan out very well. Just think, all things considered, Lamb and/or Jeudy would have been better picks and will have better careers.
Bryan Edwards will be just as good as Lamb/Jeudy if not better. You guys got a steal in the 3rd. 

 
Looks like the Raiders cut CB Prince Amukamara. I guess Arnette is looking the part of a starting CB. I just hate seeing us cut any "proven" starting CB but I guess what we have is better than what Prince could provide. In Mayock I trust. 

 
Looks like the Raiders cut CB Prince Amukamara. I guess Arnette is looking the part of a starting CB. I just hate seeing us cut any "proven" starting CB but I guess what we have is better than what Prince could provide. In Mayock I trust. 
Yea, I am wondering if that says more about Prince than it does Arnette. Prince price tag was about a million. For how he played last year that is a pretty good price tag. I can see Arnette winning the starting role but to cut him tells me that he might have less in the tank than thought. 

 
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Tyrell Williams placed on IR.  Let's see what these rookies can do.  Feel bad for him, but it's exciting to see the rookie class thrust into a more prominent role.

 
The Washington Football Team announced it acquired offensive tackle David Sharpe from the Raiders in a trade on Tuesday evening. Washington sent a 2021 sixth-round pick to the Raiders for Sharpe and a seventh-round pick, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported. Sharpe is a three-year player who started twice for the Raiders last season.

 
Las Vegas Raiders receiver Tyrell Williams (torn labrum) has been placed on season-ending injured reserve. The club also waived linebacker Sharif Finch, defensive back Nick Nelson and guard Jordan Roos, and released center Jordan Devey and running back Rod Smith.

 

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