Silver And Black Pride
Let’s kick off this week’s Las Vegas Raiders mailbag with a big happy birthday to the United States of America and Al Davis! I hope everyone has a great day celebrating with their friends and family, but first, we have to answer some questions about the Raiders’ roster!
A: I’m very intrigued by what Tre Tucker is going to do this season. I know I’ve mentioned this a bunch of times, but I’m going to keep beating the drum by saying that he’s done an excellent job of getting better every year, and doing that while working with so many quarterbacks makes the former third-round pick’s growth even more impressive. Also, I think Klint Kubiak is really going to like Tucker because Kubiak mentioned him as a player he’s excited to work with, and the receiver fits the coach’s profile for the position: fast and versatile.
On the proven vet side of things, I touched on that in a little more detail last week (see related below), but I’ll give y’all the cliff notes here.
Deebo Samuel is the easy answer from a scheme fit perspective since he’s played in this offense for the majority of his career, including in 2023 when Kubiak was the 49ers’ passing game coordinator. But Samuel isn’t the No. 1 receiver type and appears to have lost a step. To me, the best Raiders’ option at this stage would be Stefon Diggs, since Diggs can be the versatile wideout Kubiak likes and has experience being a top target. But the question is, will the 32-year-old be willing to play for a team that’s rebuilding?
Q: It seems like almost every post I read discussing the LB group states what an upgrade the offseason additions of Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean are. But when I look at the PFF ratings of Walker, it gives me concern. Sometimes PFF may not fully give the complete picture, but 3 years with significantly below-average rankings have me concerned. Hoping you have something that I have missed or not considered. Thoughts?
A: For some context, the baseline grade for PFF is 60, meaning if a player just does his job every single play and never does anything special or doesn’t have a negative rep, they’ll get a 60 for the game/season. Obviously, that never happens unless someone barely plays, which is why you’ll rarely see a flat 60.0 grade. Walker was below 60 in each of his four seasons with the Packers, with marks of 52.0, 58.7, 57.2 and 46.0, respectively.
Why a lot of people, myself included, feel the linebacker room was upgraded is that last year’s was so bad. For example, Devin White had a 40.7 grade in 2025, and that was slightly inflated by a 69.0 pass-rush grade, which isn’t a crucial aspect of the position. Elandon Roberts was a 57.2, but the Raiders also took him off the field in a lot of passing situations to hide his coverage flaws, while Walker was used as an...
