New Raiders Weekly News and Notes: 9/8/2020

Photo Credit: Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders Weekly News and Notes: 9/8/2020

Raiders training camp has officially come to an end. This year has been full of surprises, so roster cuts shouldn’t catch you by one.

The guys have become accustomed to the ‘new’ normal and have managed to complete training camp despite the ongoing pandemic and social injustice issues taking place. This year’s training camp was highly competitive. The roster, currently sitting at 80, will soon have to trim down to a 53-man roster. Players have been ambitious and anxious, attempting to adjust to their new life in a new city.

“Well, it was one adjustment; you have to adapt day after day after day,” stated Raiders head coach Jon Gruden. “Number one to the weather… we were supposed to be in Napa California, where we are accustomed to a certain weather. Being in the desert is different; we practice at 7:30 am. I don’t know any team in the history of the NFL that has practiced at 7:30 am to beat the heat. Normally we have 90 players at the start of camp. We started training camp with 80; when you get eight or nine guys hurt, you have to be careful.

You have no preseason games, so there was no downtime for some of the veteran players to get off their legs, and years passed, they’ve had three days off during the week, with the travel and the preseason game and a day off. So it’s been one adaptation after another, and we had no spring practice. We had to fast track a lot of these players.”

The Raiders had a successful second scrimmage closing out training camp.

The starters were able to hit the field with the backup players so that the coaches could observe talent. Gruden and coaches have to watch the tape and have discussions to pick which skill fits best for the team. Without preseason games, no minicamps, or OTA’s, the selection will be challenging.

The team made some moves over the past week, starting by signing defensive end Sharif Finch from the Tennessee Titans and Chris Smith from the Cleveland Browns. The Raiders searched for extra talent to add to the defensive line and waived defensive ends Ade Aruna and injured defensive end Nick Usher. They have also signed defensive end Datone Jones from the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Raiders made another addition by trading for Dolphins linebacker Raekwon McMillan.

Raiders General Manager Mike Mayock wanted to juice up the linebacking core, even more, this offseason, by signing Kyle Emanuel to the group from the Los Angeles Chargers. He made another addition to the offense by signing running back Theo Riddick from the Detroit Lions.

But then cut down day came on Saturday and the Raiders made a bevy of moves to get their roster down to the NFL mandated 53 man limit.

In a surprising move, the Raiders acquired a 2021 draft pick via a trade with the Miami Dolphins. As part of the trade terms, Las Vegas sent RB Lynn Bowden Jr. and a conditional 2021 sixth-round pick to Miami in exchange for a 2021 fourth-round draft pick.

Vic Tafur, of The Athletic, reported on Saturday that the Raiders had concerns about Bowden Jr. staying focused on the field after a series of social media posts that had the rookie appearing to be “distracted” by the Vegas lifestyle. There was also an incident that took place before training camp at his grandmother’s house, involving police. The report also stated that Bowden Jr. was struggling to pick up Gruden’s offense.

On Sunday, the Raiders signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back and special teams ace Dare Ogunbowale, who played at Wisconsin. Ogunbowale had 35 receptions for 286 yards for the Bucs in 2019 and is an intriguing option in the Raiders offense.

Here are the players the Raiders waived, released, or placed on a reserve list to get down to the 53 man limit:

WAIVED THE FOLLOWING PLAYERS:

Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Exp. College

Ateman, Marcell WR 6-4 215 2 Oklahoma State
Bowers, Nick TE 6-4 260 R Penn State
Cotton Sr., Lester C 6-4 335 1 Alabama
Doss, Keelan WR 6-3 215 2 UC Davis
Harper, Madre DB 6-2 190 R Southern Illinois
Mabin, Dylan CB 6-1 195 1 Fordham
Panasiuk, Mike DT 6-4 300 R Michigan State
Phillips, Justin LB 6-0 235 1 Oklahoma State
Pierson-El, De’ Mornay WR 5-9 190 1 Nebraska
Seymour, Kamaal T 6-6 310 R Rutgers
White, Javin LB 6-2 211 R UNLV

RELEASED THE FOLLOWING PLAYERS:

Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Exp. College

Emanuel, Kyle LB 6-3 250 5 North Dakota State
Jones, Datone DE 6-4 285 7 UCLA
Riddick, Theo RB 5-10 197 7 Notre Dame
Smith, Chris DE 6-1 266 7 Arkansas
**Wilber, Kyle LB 6-4 240 9 Wake Forest
**Young, Sam T 6-8 302 11 Notre Dame

PLACED THE FOLLOWING PLAYER ON THE RESERVE/INJURED LIST:

Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Exp. College

Kush, Eric G 6-4 317 8 California (Pa.)
Muse, Tanner LB 6-2 227 R Clemson

PLACED THE FOLLOWING PLAYER ON THE RESERVE/SUSPENDED LIST:

Player Pos. Ht. Wt. Exp. College

Lawson, Nevin CB 5-10 190 7 Utah State

** Re-signed to the Raiders 53 man roster.

The dream wasn’t over for some of the players released. The Raiders signed the following 15 players to their practice squad, the club announced Sunday. All 15 practice squad additions were with the team this offseason.:

Player Pos.

Ateman, Marcell WR
Bowers, Nick TE
Brown, Jordan DB
Doss, Keelan WR
Eberle, Dominik K
Emanuel, Kyle LB
Harper, Madre DB
Jones, Datone DE
Kizer, Deshone QB
Mabin, Dylan CB
Magnuson, Erik OL
Riddick, Theo RB
Seymour, Kamaal T
Smith, Chris DE
White, Javin LB

Many players, like Javin White, made huge impressions during training camp, including starting quarterback Derek Carr.

Although many people whispered their opinions about his performance, Mayock was not surprised by Derek Carr’s ability to lead. “I’m just really pleased with the way Derek Carr has taken over this football team,” states Mayock. “And it goes back to the offseason, and it goes back to all the workouts he had with the players and the players just confirming their buy-in. And that’s been awesome. I think Derek is just natural. I think he gets better every day with Jon Gruden in Year 3. That’s been awesome.”

Carr, who was much maligned over the past three seasons, is tired of the detractors and naysayers. He has been very vocal about proving “the haters” wrong and “shutting them up.” To the Raiders credit, from owner Mark Davis to Mayock and Gruden, they all have publicly supported Carr, who knows 2020 is a put up or shut up year for him in Silver and Black.

The inaugural game of the Las Vegas Raiders kicks off at 10 am PT on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. With all of the depth at each position, Raider Nation should have a lot to look forward to in 2020.

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-Nyshon Zaragoza – Franchise Sports Media

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