Answering Raider Nation’s questions for the week
OTAs are underway for the Las Vegas Raiders, and the biggest news this week is that defensive tackle Christian Wilkins isn’t participating in practice after suffering a setback in his recovery from the foot injury that prematurely ended his season. So, that and the offseason are the primary focuses of this week’s mailbag.
Q: How do you think the injury to Wilkins will change his season? Will he play at all?
A: The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore reported that Wilkins will likely be back by August despite the recent setback. The situation could change between now and then, but as of right now, it’s looking like he’ll be good to go by the start of the season and shouldn’t miss any games.
As for how the injury will impact the defensive tackle’s season, I’m not terribly concerned with him missing unpadded practices in May. Yes, it would be ideal for him to be out there, but he’s a veteran who has played at a high level and was good last year before suffering the Jones fracture in his foot.
Where I would start to get worried is if Wilkins has to miss time during training camp. It’s hard to get into football shape without practicing with pads on, which is what training camp is for with an experienced player of his caliber. If that happens, it could cause him to get off to a slow start, and we’d likely see the Raiders rotate Wilkins out of games more frequently and rely on their depth at defensive tackle to begin the campaign.
Q: Should Wilkins miss significant time, how do you see snap share breaking down for the interior DL? If both rookies are impressive in camp and preseason, who is your favorite to fill the role if necessary?
A: If that happens, hypothetically, Adam Butler will have an increased role and be a starter, similar to how he was used last year when Wilkins went down. Also, Zach Carter’s odds of making the team will get a significant boost since Carter is a decent run defender at the 3- to 4i-technique spot.
Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images
Additionally, I’d be interested to see how Jonah Laulu develops this year. Consistency was an issue for Laulu during his rookie season, but he had several quality reps in both phases of the game and made seven starts to provide some optimism for his outlook.
Admittedly, I’m a little biased when it comes to the rookies. I liked JJ Pegues more than Tonka Hemingway heading into the draft, so Pegues would be my pick to be the starter if it comes down to those two. He’s the better run defender, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Hemingway is used a little more as an end. That said, they could complement each other well since the latter is a decent pass-rusher, where Pegues takes the early downs and Hemingway subs in during passing situations.
Q: Do you think the Raiders will make any more moves before the season starts?
A: I guess I’ll use this as my weekly opportunity to pound the table for Las Vegas to sign Mike Hilton as a starting nickel cornerback option! Also, the front office should look into adding Julian Blackmon, since he has experience playing free safety and will only be 27 years old this season.
Whether or not the Raiders will actually make a move, we could see them sign someone once OTAs and minicamp are over. That gives the coaching staff and front office a handful of practices to evaluate the roster and have a better grasp of where the team’s holes are and how big said holes are. Plus, there will be a few contracts that are easier to get out of once June 1 passes.
However, I’m not expecting to see any significant changes to the roster before training camp. My sense is that John Spytek and Pete Carroll are confident in the guys they have and will roll with them into the season.
Q: It would appear that outside of guard, the Raiders’ offense starters are set. How many positions on defense are in flux?
A: Outside of Jeremy Chinn at one of the starting safety spots, the entire second and third levels of the defense are in flux. Granted, Jakorian Bennett is a heavy favorite to be the unit’s top cornerback. But even he has something to prove to the new coaching staff, considering he’s only played in 24 career games with 11 starts.
Isaiah Pola-Mao will likely be the free safety, but he’ll have to fend off Thomas Harper, who also could factor into the void at slot corner. Meanwhile, Eric Stokes, Darien Porter and Decamerion Richardson will battle for the other starting spot on the boundary at cornerback.
Photo by Ian Maule/Getty Images
At linebacker, Elandon Roberts and Devin White should enter training camp as the starters, but that’s a wide-open position group where you could convince me just about any backer on the roster could earn a first-string role.
Long story short, pretty much every position group except for the defense line. And if Wilkins’ injury does linger and cause him to miss time, then add defensive tackle to the list.
Q: Can you predict the cornerback room depth chart as of today and after the bye week?
A: Today: Bennett, Stokes and Darnay Holmes (NB). I’m a big fan of Porter’s potential and think he could easily become a Week 1 starter, but the coaching staff will likely lean on the more experienced players at the beginning of training camp. The same logic applies with Holmes at nickel.
After the bye week: Bennett, Porter and Harper (NB). The more I watch Porter, the more I like the guy’s game. He’ll start at some point this season, it’s just a matter of when. Harper covered the slot a lot in college, and with the inside corners on the roster, I get the feeling Patrick Graham will use a lot of three-safety looks. That would put Chinn, Pola-Mao and Haprer on the field at the same time.
Q: As it stands right now, what, if anything, have the Raiders done or not done this offseason that’s been a head scratcher?
A: I was surprised that they let Tre’von Moehrig, Robert Spillane and Nate Hobbs all walk. Retaining all three was unlikely, but I figured at least one would get re-signed. Moehrig, Spillane and Hobbs all got lucrative contracts, but Las Vegas had a lot of cap space this offseason to make it interesting why they didn’t bring one of them back, in my opinion. On top of that, Spytek and Carroll were relatively inactive in free agency.
Draft-wise, it was a little head-scratching that the Raiders didn’t prioritize defensive players, especially with their early picks. However, I do like their draft haul overall.
Q: With the roster and coaching to date, do you think the Raiders have a greater than 50/50 chance of getting out of the AFC West cellar this season? It’s a talented division, and getting out of last place would be a sign of better things to come.
A: In my way-too-early record prediction, I have the Raiders going 9-8 but 1-5 in the division. The AFC West is so tough that it’s possible every team finishes above .500, and a good team misses out on the playoffs since they have to play each other six times. So, it’s definitely going to be an uphill battle to get out of last place.
Unfortunately, that comes with the territory of playing in a division with three reigning playoff clubs, including one that has been to the last three Super Bowls.
Q: Has Chip Kelly used two-tight end lineups in the past? If not, do you expect that Michael Mayer will be featured in the preseason to build up his trade value?
A: Kelly used two tight ends a lot during his time in the pros with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. I dove deeper into this topic in the related article below.
Q: Will Chip Kelly be using the no-QB (wildcat) formations in any of his plays this season now that he has Ashton Jeanty at running back?
A: Kelly hasn’t used wildcat formations much in the past because he typically has a mobile quarterback. Geno Smith isn’t super mobile, but he can run again every once in a while, and the video below shows him working on a few speed options with Jeanty.
Kelly is known for being a creative and forward-thinking offensive coordinator, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he mixes in a few wildcat plays as a wrinkle this season.
Chip Kelly implementing the speed option with Geno Smith and Ashton Jeanty ☠️
Geno was the fastest player on the Seahawks last season, would love to see Chip utilize his play making abilities pic.twitter.com/PhxTNpXsKP
— ShifftttyyyQB1 ☠️ (@raiders1022) May 22, 2025
A: I don’t have any information on that, but I wouldn’t worry about it much at this stage. The amount of guaranteed money can get tricky with second-round picks and can often be a holdup in negotiations. For example, only the first two second-rounders (Carson Schwesinger and Jayden Higgins) have signed their rookie contracts, according to Spotrac.
When more players who were drafted ahead of Jack Bech in the second round start signing their deals, he’ll likely sign his shortly thereafter. Teams are in a holding pattern right now, waiting to see how much guaranteed money other second-rounders are getting to set a precedent. It’s kind of a “who’s going to flinch first” situation.
A: The NFL lets teams protect four practice-squad players every week, which is the best way to keep them from getting poached. The only other way is if a preseason and/or training camp standout suffers an injury and gets placed on injured reserve, but they have to have a legitimate injury for that to happen.
Besides that, keeping players on the 53-man roster is the only way to prevent them from getting poached. That said, it is a good sign if other clubs are interested in players who aren’t good enough to make the Raiders’ roster. That means the team has plenty of talent and the scouting staff is doing a good job.
That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to SBPQuestions1@gmail.com or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays. Sign up and go to the comments section.