Silver And Black Pride
With two preseason games down and one to go, the Las Vegas Raiders’ 53-man roster is starting to take shape. Cutdown day is about a week away, Tuesday, August 26 at 1 p.m. PST, so the clock is ticking for the guys on the roster bubble. With that, let’s take another stab at predicting who makes the squad in Las Vegas, based on the preseason games against the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers and training camp.
As a reminder from last time:
For simplicity, it’s assumed that 25 offensive players, 25 defensive players and three specialists will make the roster in this exercise. That also can change as training camp goes on, as the coaching staff may decide to keep a different number of players at each position than what’s listed below.
To account for that, any player who has a star (*) next to their name means their status could change based on how many roster spots the coaching staff is allocating to that position. In other words, a ‘backup’ with a star is a ‘cut’ projection if the Raiders keep one fewer player than what’s listed below and vice versa.
Previously:
Starter: Geno Smith
Backups: Aidan O’Connell*, Cam Miller
Cut: no one
Updated:
Starter: Geno Smith
Backups: Aidan O’Connell, Cam Miller*
Cut: no one
After Miller had the upper hand in the first preseason game, O’Connell was the better quarterback last weekend. However, both threw bad interceptions against the 49ers, which makes the backup job in Las Vegas an interesting one to keep tabs on over the next few weeks.
Previously:
Starter: Ashton Jeanty
Backups: Raheem Mostert, Zamir White*, Sincere McCormick
Cut: Dylan Laube, Chris Collier
Updated:
Starter: Ashton Jeanty
Backups: Raheem Mostert, Zamir White, Dylan Laube*
Cut: Sincere McCormick, Chris Collier
The coaching staff seems like what White brings to the table over McCormick, as the former is reportedly in a battle for the RB2 role with Mostert. Meanwhile, Laube offers more special teams value and has played well on special teams in both preseason games. That could make McCormick a bit of a surprise cut.
Previously:
Starters: Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker, Dont’e Thornton Jr.
Backups: Jack Bech, Tommy Mellott, Shedrick Jackson*
Cut: Alex Bachman*, Collin Johnson, Justin Shorter, Phillip Dorsett, Marquez Callaway, Ketron Jackson Jr.
Already cut: Seth Williams, Kyle Philips, Kawaan Baker
Updated:
Starters: Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker, Dont’e Thornton Jr.
Backups: Jack Bech, Tommy Mellott, Alex Bachman*
Cut: Shedrick Jackson*, Collin Johnson, Phillip Dorsett, Justin Shorter, Marquez Callaway, Ketron Jackson Jr.
That sixth wide receiver spot is an interesting one, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Raiders roll with only five wideouts. While Jackson had a strong performance in Seattle, he was quiet against San Francisco. Meanwhile, Bachman offers value as a blocker in the running game, and the coaching...
