Sportsnaut
The Las Vegas Raiders rookies will report to training camp on Thursday for what could be a pivotal offseason for their early development. Head coach Pete Carroll’s push for in-house competition should allow the newcomers to earn starting and prominent positions for the 2025 season.
Typically, the best athletes shine during organized team activities and mandatory minicamp in the spring; however, the players who make their presence felt with pads on in the summer are most ready to contribute in the fall and winter.
Let’s address the three most significant questions related to the 2025 rookie class and explore potential solutions and outcomes to these queries.
Including No. 6 overall pick Ashton Jeanty, the youth on the offensive side of the ball comes with a ton of intrigue, and it’s more than enough to feel optimistic about that unit even after it scored the fourth-fewest points and ranked 27th in total yards last season.
Jeanty has a clear role as the lead running back. Second-rounder Jack Bech and fourth-rounder Dont’e Thornton can compete for the No. 2 wide receiver spot behind Jakobi Meyers, though Tre Tucker is also in the mix.
Levi Edwards of the team’s official website noted that Thornton was arguably the most impressive standout among the rookies during the spring.
The Athletic’s Tashan Reed recalled Tucker and Thornton taking most of the outside reps in three-receiver sets with the starting group through mandatory minicamp.
“Meyers was mostly used as a slot receiver during OTAs, while Tucker and Thornton handled the majority of the reps on the outside with the first-team offense,” Reed reported.
Bech, who’s still unsigned, put together a solid showing through OTAs. Reed said the rookie wideout was “consistently open” early in May.
Ahead of training camp, Thornton has generated more buzz than Bech, but that could change in the coming weeks. On a side note, Las Vegas and Bech must agree on contractual terms to put that issue behind them.
Raiders veterans report to training camp on July 22, which will shed some light on the progress of Christian Wilkins in his recovery from a Jones fracture.
Recently, Wilkins has been wearing a walking boot. Despite that, Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore reported that the team expects the defensive tackle to be ready in August.
Talked to a few people regarding the setback with @Raiders DT Christian Wilkins. It essentially comes down to the screw breaking or (in the rare case) he rebroke the bone. In either case, the feeling is that he should be ready by August. (Obviously, we'll see)
— Vincent Bonsignore (@VinnyBonsignore) May 22, 2025
Regardless of Wilkins’ status in the coming weeks, Las Vegas may call on rookies Tonka Hemingway and JJ Pegues to rotate in with the first unit until Wilkins makes a full recovery.
Hemingway,...
