Returning Raider Nation’s questions for the week
The regular season is so close we can almost touch it! The Las Vegas Raiders wrapped up the preseason this weekend and it’s time to turn our attention to the Week 1 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. That being said, we do have a mailbag to get to, of course.
[Editor’s note: this was written before Friday’s preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers.]
Q: Who are the o linemen who can find themselves on this roster we didn’t expect? What defensive linemen are best positioned to make this roster outside of the obvious 4?
A: I don’t know if there will be many surprises on the offensive line, but The Athletic’s Vic Tafur seems to think undrafted rookie Will Putnam has a chance to earn a roster spot. The Raiders could use a backup center behind Andre James and Putnam didn’t allow a single pressure in the team’s first two preseason games, per Pro Football Focus. Granted, he only had 15 snaps in pass protection.
Undrafted rookie Will Putnam was exchanging swings with 2 of the team’s best players, and the veteran linemen on the sideline beamed with pride.
“He’s got a little feistiness in him, and we love to see it,” Andre James said. “He doesn’t take any shit.” ⤵️ https://t.co/7xyuw9UpsX— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) August 22, 2024
On the d-line, I’m not sure how much of a “surprise” this would be, but Elerson Smith has a good chance to make the 53-man roster. He was quiet against the Vikings but had a nice performance versus the Cowboys, logging a couple of pressures on just nine pass rushes and earning a 77.0 run defense grade (on only five snaps, though) with a dominant rep setting the edge to get a TFL.
It’s a small sample size for Smith, but he did make the most of his opportunities last week to potentially earn a spot at defensive end. To be honest, he’s been better in the preseason than Tyree Wilson, though I don’t think Wilson is getting cut.
Q: What kind of comp for Tyree Wilson in a trade?
A: On a related note, hopefully you’ve read my posts the last couple of weeks about Wilson being disappointing during the preseason. If not, what’s the hold-up? Get with the program!
If Las Vegas wants to trade last year’s seventh-overall pick, I think the most the team can expect to get in return would be a third-rounder and that even feels like a stretch at this point. Another club would have had to be really high on him coming out of college and still believe he has untapped potential to give up anything more than a Day 3 selection given how he’s blended in and struggled against backups in the preseason.
Realistically, Wilson’s trade value is probably a lot closer to a fifth-round pick, maybe fourth. Part of the problem is if the Raiders start shopping him around cut-down day, they’re not going to have much leverage because the assumption is going to be that he’s going to be on waivers and another club could get him for free.
Again, I don’t think that’ll happen. But, if I’m a GM and Tom Telesco calls me this weekend to try and strike a deal for Wilson and Telesco is being stubborn with the price tag, I’m at least waiting until the 27th—when the 53-man rosters have to be finalized—to increase my offer. It’s easier to call someone’s bluff when a deadline is steadily approaching.
A: Ideally, a top-10 pick would be an impact starter by his second season and that’s not going to happen this year with Wilson, especially if Malcolm Koonce stays healthy. Right now, I think the ceiling for Wilson is becoming a solid starter by year three who can be a good run defender and occasionally contribute as a pass-rusher.
I mentioned this last week, but he’s looking more and more like he’s on the Clelin Ferrell career path after the preseason game against the Cowboys.
Q: Do you think the Raiders just roll with Jakorian Bennett at CB2 at this point? He’s been good all off-season and I don’t really see a surefire upgrade out there except via trade. Also, Tyler Hall is back out there for nickelback depth if we want to stash Woo Governor on the practice squad.
A: Especially now that Stephon Gilmore isn’t available, it seems like Patrick Graham is going to keep Bennett as the starting cornerback. As you alluded to, Bennett seemingly took command of the CB2 battle since OTAs started and has continued to play well. So, it sounds like he’s won the job and the team likely would have brought someone else in right now if they weren’t confident in him.
I’d still say there’s a chance the Raiders add a veteran for depth, especially if there’s a surprise cut, and Hall could be that guy. Governor has been the backup slot corner in the preseason, but The Athletic’s Tashan Reed posted/tweeted that the defense had Isaiah Pola-Mao at nickel the other day when Nate Hobbs missed practice.
To me, that indicates the coaching staff isn’t 100 percent sold on Governor right now and might want him to develop on the practice squad, as you mentioned. Then the question pivots to; how much do they trust Pola-Mao to cover the slot? I don’t have a good answer for that one at the moment.
Q: What are your thoughts on taking a flyer in DeAndre Baker? Star at Georgia, was at least in camp with Patrick Grahman in NY, CB depth, All-UFL. Could be a Jack Jones-esq opportunity, with little risk. Plus AP wants the “Old School” Raiders, what’s more Old School than a gang of outcasts on D?
A: I’ll pass.
Baker was on the commissioner’s exempt list and was dealing with legal issues in August of 2020, when he was in camp with Graham and the Giants, so I don’t know how much time they really spent together. Also, Baker just wasn’t good when he played in the NFL. It’s a different situation than Jones as Jones had Pierce to vouch for him and was good when on the field in New England.
Q: I’m just a longtime fan, but the collective wisdom of the league has determined that Gardner Minshew is, at best, the 33rd-ranked QB in the league. If Minshew was a first- or second-year player, maybe that assessment could be wrong. But after several years of game film, it’s unlikely, isn’t it? And the Raiders apparently think Aidan O’Connell is worse than that.
A: I think you’ve touched on the issue with Minshew. After five years in the league and playing for three different teams before heading to Las Vegas, his ceiling is lower and we already know who he is, a good backup and below-average starter. An optimistic fan will hope he is the second coming of Rich Gannon, but let’s be honest, Gannon is an outlier and there are more examples of journeyman quarterbacks not exceeding expectations.
From the sounds of it, the Raiders wanted O’Connell to win the job. However, reports were that he didn’t look much better than last season and Minshew was slightly better in training camp. So, I think the organization plans to go with a stop-gap for a year or two and try to find a quarterback of the future in the draft.
A: I don’t know if I’d call Justin Field’s performances in the preseason “hot garbage”, but he hasn’t been playing well. During the offseason, I wrote about how he held the Bears’ offense back in 2023, so I definitely think Luke Getsy’s time in Chicago wasn’t a true barometer of how good or bad he is as an offensive coordinator.
Granted, the Raiders don’t have a good quarterback situation this year either, but Getsy might surprise people who wrote him off when he was hired.
A: I don’t think the offensive coordinator is getting replaced six games into the season when the entire organization knows the quarterback situation isn’t ideal, lol.
A: I think the lack of depth on the offensive line is a big part of the reason why Dylan Laube hasn’t stood out much in the preseason. For example, he has 16 rushing yards and is averaging 2.3 yards per carry while PFF is crediting him with 21 yards after first contact and 3.00 yards after contact per attempt. So, he’s fighting just to get back to the line of scrimmage. I think Ameer Abdullah will still be the third-down back this year though, and Laube will take over the role next season.
Marcus broke down some of Laube’s film around the 48-minute mark on the TDL episode below and there were a few encouraging clips if you’d like to take a look.
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.