The past couple days have been the next phase in Raiders training camp. They moved from the acclimation period to practicing in pads. With that comes more team sessions and therefore more opportunities to see offense vs defense.
Unfortunately, these past two practices have also happened without the Raiders best player on the field.
Darren Waller caught a franchise record 107 passes last season. Gruden has said this offense is built around his Pro Bowl tight end which means not having him out there means the team “changed the script a little bit” as Gruden put it.
That means relying more on the actual wide receivers on the team. That begins with second-year receivers Henry Ruggs III and Bryan Edwards.
Ruggs was the team’s top pick in last year’s draft, but it was Edwards who was stealing the show in training camp. Injuries put a damper on his season and likely played a role in why Waller had the workload he did.
Gruden would like the wide receivers to take some pressure off of Waller and the past two days have offered a preview of what that might look like.
Edwards in particular was making some of his high-point, 50/50 ball catches today, showing that he has the potential to step up in this offense to take pressure off Waller.
“[Gruden] told me I was going to get more opportunities with Waller down for a little bit and I’m trying to make the most of it,” said Edwards.
A couple catches were particularly impressive. One in which he got Amik Robertson turned around Carr threw it up for Edwards to make a play on it. Another in which Edwards got a step on Keisean Nixon and by the time Nixon had recovered, he ended up committing pass interference. And Edwards still caught it.
Ruggs showed off his deep speed Tuesday on a long touchdown in which he got behind the defense. Today he made several catches that showed he’s been working on his route running. Gruden sees Ruggs improvement in the mental side of the game.
“I think the big thing with Henry is he’s out here, he’s practicing, and he knows the offense,” said Gruden. “He anticipates what’s going to be called now instead of reacting to what’s called as he’s lining up.”
Last season the Raiders had high hopes for these two young receivers. They were starters for the season opener together. But it didn’t take long before it was clear the Raiders top receivers would be Waller, Nelson Agholor, and Hunter Renfrow. And they’d have to postpone their hopes for Ruggs and Edwards.
Waller’s absence thrusts them back into the spotlight. Gruden says he likes what he’s seen so far and I’d have to agree with him. Though I’m sure once games arrive, he’d just rather have his beast tight end back in the lineup, he may come out of this with greater comfort in the abilities of his young receivers to pick up the slack.