Category: Raiders NFL Draft

With assist from old pal, Raiders now have no one-win teams ahead of them in draft order

A slew of two-win teams now battle for the top of the draft order now with both one-win teams win Sunday.

The Raiders badly need a win. They didn’t get one on their own on Sunday against the Bengals, losing their fifth straight game to fall to 2-7 on the season. But they got a win of sorts in another way. And they got it with a little help from an old friend.

Coming into today, there were two one-win teams in the league — the Panthers and Titans. Both teams won, which means every team in the NFL has at least two wins.

The Titans outlasted the Patriots in OT while Derek Carr and the Saints gave the Panthers their second win.

The former Raiders QB made some history in the process. A couple bits of history, in fact. Neither of which were the good kind.

Carr went 18 for 31 for 236 yards and a touchdown. He got 155 yards on the ground from Alvin Kamara, a rushing TD from Tayson Hill, and the defense had a takeaway. And he somehow couldn’t parlay into a win.

So, the Raiders — and several other two-win teams across the league — thank you for your service and sacrifice, Derek, in removing the Panthers from the ranks of the one-win teams and opening it up for the slew of two-win teams to control their own destiny for the top pick. Which, as it happens, also includes the 2-7 Saints.

Raiders rookie gets first start at center Week 9 vs Bengals

With Andre James OUT with a knee injury, rookie second round pick and Rimington Award winner Jackson Powers-Johnson will make it first start at center.

When the Raiders take the field Sunday in Cincinnati, they will have a new starting center. Regular center Andre James has been ruled OUT with an ankle injury, which means Jackson Powers-Johnson will be moving over from left guard to center.

“We’ve had Jackson there the last couple days we’ll leave him there and let guys kind of stay put,” Pierce said of the center position. “We’ve been shuffling the Oline quite a bit now due to injuries, so we do the best we can to keep some continuity there and let the guys that’s practiced throughout the week play where they’ve been practicing.”

Powers-Johnson was selected by the Raiders with the 44th overall pick in the second round of this year’s draft out of Oregon.

This past season for the Ducks, JPJ won the Rimington Award as the nation’s top center. But the Raiders needed him to play guard initially, being that they had James in place at center.

Currently the Raiders have several linemen with center experience, including the two linemen who could be starting at each guard spot on Sunday — Cody Whitehair and Dylan Parham. However, Whitehair’s days at center are long past, and the bulk of Parham’s experience is at guard.

JPJ stepped in at center for the final 16 snaps in last Sunday’s game against the Chiefs when James sustained the ankle injury and the team is sticking with him at least for this week and perhaps longer, depending on James’s injury recovery timeline and how well JPJ holds his own at the position.

Raiders Week 8 snap counts vs Chiefs: Jackson Powers-Johnson sees time at center

Andre James went out with an injury and the Raiders moved their rookie guard over to play center the remainder of the game.

Late in the game against the Chiefs on Sunday, the Raiders had to make some quick decisions along the offensive line. Andre James went out with an injury, which meant some shuffling was in order.

Moving over from left guard was rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson, and coming in for him for the final 16 snaps of the game was veteran Cody Whitehair.

Both Powers-Johnson and Whitehair have past experience at center. but Powers-Johnson is the reigning Rimington Award winner as the nation’s top center. So, playing the position is still pretty fresh in his mind, making the move the natural one for the Raiders to make.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Jackson Powers-Johnson G 58 100% 4 17%
Kolton Miller T 58 100% 4 17%
Jordan Meredith G 58 100% 4 17%
DJ Glaze T 58 100% 4 17%
Gardner Minshew II QB 58 100% 0 0%
Brock Bowers TE 53 91% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 53 91% 0 0%
Jakobi Meyers WR 47 81% 0 0%
Andre James C 42 72% 0 0%
Alexander Mattison RB 38 66% 0 0%
DJ Turner WR 31 53% 9 38%
John Samuel Shenker TE 23 40% 10 42%
Ameer Abdullah RB 17 29% 13 54%
Thayer Munford T 17 29% 4 17%
Cody Whitehair G 16 28% 4 17%
Alex Bachman WR 6 10% 5 21%
Justin Shorter TE 2 3% 12 50%
Zamir White RB 2 3% 2 8%
Andrus Peat G 1 2% 4 17%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 72 100% 5 21%
Maxx Crosby DE 72 100% 3 12%
Jack Jones CB 72 100% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 72 100% 0 0%
Robert Spillane LB 71 99% 0 0%
Jakorian Bennett CB 66 92% 0 0%
Nate Hobbs CB 65 90% 0 0%
Divine Deablo LB 61 85% 2 8%
Adam Butler DT 56 78% 5 21%
John Jenkins DT 45 62% 5 21%
K’Lavon Chaisson LB 37 51% 0 0%
Tyree Wilson DE 34 47% 2 8%
Matthew Butler DT 19 26% 4 17%
Charles Snowden DE 18 25% 5 21%
Jonah Laulu DT 15 21% 5 21%
Thomas Harper FS 9 12% 13 54%
Janarius Robinson DE 6 8% 5 21%
Tommy Eichenberg LB 1 1% 20 83%
Decamerion Richardson CB 1 1% 15 62%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Amari Gainer LB 0 0% 20 83%
Amari Burney LB 0 0% 20 83%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 15 62%
Trey Taylor SS 0 0% 13 54%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 9 38%
Darnay Holmes CB 0 0% 7 29%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 6 25%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 6 25%
Desmond Ridder QB 0 0% 0 0%

Raiders TE Brock Bowers Yards After Catch numbers already on pace for elite company

Rookie tight end Brock Bowers leads all tight ends in the NFL in Yards After Catch (YAC) and is on pace for All Pro level numbers.

It’s becoming clear just what makes Brock Bowers so special as a player. And it starts with his ability to get yards after the catch.

The rookie tight end’s ability to get every extra yard imaginable and a few yards you didn’t think were possible almost defies logic and reason.

Raiders offensive coordinator set about trying to explain just how Bowers does it.

“Some guys like…he’s a natural football player,” Luke Getsy said of Bowers’ YAC abilities. “What I mean by that is he understands spacing, he understands his awareness of what’s all going on around him. I think all that’s real. So, when he catches the ball and he knows he has space, there’s no wasted movement. There’s no figuring out, there’s no bubble around him. It’s catch, drop step, get vertical, and go. So, you’re seeing him catch check downs and you’re seeing him turn them into explosives. And so all that awareness of space and the people around you is something special that not everybody has. But he has it and that on top of understanding where he’s supposed to be conceptually and the toughness prt of it. That part is probably the most important.”

The rookie 13th overall pick leads all NFL tight ends over the first six weeks of the season with 206 yards after catch. That’s tenth in the league at any position. With 384 yards receiving, that means well over half his yards have come after the catch.

His numbers put him on pace for 584 yards after the catch on the season. The list of tight ends to have better numbers than that over the past five years is short.

2022 *Travis Kelce — 648
2019 *George Kittle — 602
2023 **David Njoku — 599
2020 *Travis Kelce — 587

*All Pro season
** Pro Bowl season

This is nothing new for Bowers. Twice in his three years at Georgia he led all FCS tight ends in Yards After Catch. But it’s one thing to do it on the collegiate level, it’s another to treat NFL defenders the same way.

Raiders Davante Adams trade conditional draft compensation scenarios from best to worst

What draft pick the Raiders receive from the Jets in trade for Davante Adams ranges quite a bit based on various scenarios. We go through them.

The conditional pick the Raiders will receive from the Jets in exchange for Davante Adams will land in a fairly wide range. Let’s explore the possibilities for that pick. From what it could potentially be — the best case scenario — and what it is guaranteed to be at least — the worst case scenario.

The conditions for moving the pick from a round three pick to a round two pick are either the Jets play in the conference championship game or Adams makes at least second team All Pro.

So, let start with the best case scenario and work our way up from there.

1. Best case

Round 2, pick 33

This is the highest possible pick the Raiders could get from this trade. A much less likely scenario, but not impossible. It would require Davante Adams be named second team All Pro, but the Jets still be terrible. Literally the worst record in the NFL bad.

2. Next best case

Round 2 picks 34-50

Davante Adams gets at least second team All Pro and the Jets fail to make the playoffs.

3. Worst best case

Round 2, pick 64

This would mean the Raiders get their Round two pick, but because the Jets win the Super Bowl, which would make it the lowest possible Round two pick.

4. Best worst case

Round 3 pick 65-82

This is basically the status quo here. In other words, Davante doesn’t make All Pro and the Jets don’t make the playoffs. The more wins the Jets get, the lower this pick will be.

5. Worst case

Round 3, pick 92

This is the lowest possible pick the Raiders could get. It would require a couple of things to happen, both of which are very possible. 1. The Jets make it to the Divisional round and lose. 2. Davante Adams is not named first or second team All Pro.

Raiders place former 2nd round pick TE Michael Mayer on Non-football illness list

After missing the past two weeks for personal reasons, Raiders TE Michael Mayer officially lands on the Non-football illness list

With each week that passed by this season that Michael Mayer was ruled OUT for personal reasons, it got more and more concerning as to what was going on with him.

The 2023 Round two pick (35 overall) was supposed to give the Raiders a dominant 1-2 punch at the tight end spot along with rookie 13th overall pick Brock Bowers. But following the team’s Week 3 loss to the Panthers, he was suddenly missing practices for personal reasons and has was ruled OUT for his third straight game as a result.

No word has been given as to what the issue is with Mayer. It’s personal which can mean any number of things. But for the Raiders, it means he will miss at least the next four games.

Mayer’s absence was one of several strange occurrences with the team that week. You may recall it was the postgame press conference following that Panthers loss that had Antonio Pierce saying some players were making business decisions.

That week, in preparations for the Browns, Mayer didn’t practice and was ruled OUT, Davante Adams had his hamstring issue and was ruled OUT followed by his trade request day after the game, Maxx Crosby missed the first game of his career with a high ankle sprain, and Jack Jones was benched for the first half.

Raiders Week 5 snap counts vs Broncos: Rookies get plenty of playing time

The Raiders are increasingly diffing into their depth chart this season. One result was a good deal of Raiders rookies getting the start and others getting increased snaps. Here’s how the rookies snaps worked out for this one: Rd 1 TE Brock Bowers – …

The Raiders are increasingly diffing into their depth chart this season. One result was a good deal of Raiders rookies getting the start and others getting increased snaps. Here’s how the rookies snaps worked out for this one:

Rd 1 TE Brock Bowers — Start, 55 snaps (79%)
Rd 2 G Jackson Powers-Johnson — Start, 70 snaps (100%)
Rd 3 T DJ Glaze — Start, 70 snaps (100%)
Rd 5 LB Tommy Eichenberg — Start, 45 snaps (71%), 18 ST snaps (60%)
Rd 6 RB Dylan Laube — 10 ST snaps (30%)
UDFA LB Amari Gainer — 28 ST snaps (93%)
UDFA DT Jonah Laulu — 19 snaps (30%), 9 ST snaps (30%)
UDFA CB Thomas Harper — 13 (21%), 23 ST snaps (77%)

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Jackson Powers-Johnson G 70 100% 2 7%
Delmar Glaze T 70 100% 2 7%
Dylan Parham G 70 100% 2 7%
Andre James C 70 100% 0 0%
Kolton Miller T 70 100% 0 0%
Jakobi Meyers WR 68 97% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 59 84% 0 0%
Brock Bowers TE 55 79% 0 0%
DJ Turner WR 52 74% 11 37%
Gardner Minshew II QB 44 63% 0 0%
Alexander Mattison RB 40 57% 0 0%
Harrison Bryant TE 32 46% 5 17%
Ameer Abdullah RB 31 44% 16 53%
Aidan O’Connell QB 26 37% 0 0%
John Samuel Shenker TE 10 14% 15 50%
Andrus Peat G 2 3% 2 7%
Alex Bachman WR 1 1% 16 53%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Robert Spillane LB 63 100% 0 0%
Jakorian Bennett CB 62 98% 0 0%
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 60 95% 9 30%
Jack Jones CB 56 89% 0 0%
Adam Butler DT 54 86% 2 7%
Maxx Crosby DE 52 83% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 50 79% 0 0%
Nate Hobbs CB 47 75% 0 0%
Tommy Eichenberg LB 45 71% 18 60%
John Jenkins DT 38 60% 9 30%
Tyree Wilson DE 34 54% 7 23%
Charles Snowden DE 29 46% 0 0%
Christian Wilkins DT 22 35% 2 7%
K’Lavon Chaisson LB 21 33% 10 33%
Jonah Laulu DT 19 30% 9 30%
Thomas Harper FS 13 21% 23 77%
Christopher Smith SS 11 17% 26 87%
Nesta Jade Silvera DT 10 16% 9 30%
Amari Burney LB 8 13% 21 70%
Janarius Robinson DE 1 2% 8 27%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Amari Gainer LB 0 0% 28 93%
Kana’i Mauga LB 0 0% 18 60%
Sam Webb CB 0 0% 10 33%
Dylan Laube RB 0 0% 10 33%
Sincere McCormick RB 0 0% 9 30%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 7 23%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 7 23%
Darnay Holmes CB 0 0% 7 23%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 6 20%
Jordan Meredith G 0 0% 2 7%
Cody Whitehair G 0 0% 2 7%

WATCH: Raiders TE Brock Bowers amazing 57-yard grab for first career TD

WATCH: Raiders TE Brock Bowers amazing 57-yard grab for first career TD

Things got interesting real quick for the Raiders vs Broncos in Denver. Third play of the game, Gardner Minshew threw up a prayer under pressure and Brock Bowers did the rest, winning the jump ball and streaking 57 yards for the score.

This is one hell of a way for Bowers to post his first career touchdown. Seems pretty fitting, actually, for the rookie 13th overall pick.

Raiders rookie LB Tommy Eichenberg to make first career start Week 5 vs Broncos

Raiders continue to dig into their rookie class, with linebacker Tommy Eichenberg making the fourth rookie starter.

We are five games into the 2024 season for the Raiders and they are already tapping into their rookie class to fill out their starting lineup. The most recent will be Round five linebacker Tommy Eichenberg who will start Sunday when the team travels to Denver.

“With Luke [Masterson] being out, Tommy will start,” said Pierce. “Tommy’s coming along. He got off to a great start in OTA’s and then training camp, and then we had a little hiccup there with the injury, but he’s bounced back really strong. We feel really good, he’s a good complement to Robert Spillane and he’s really good for our defense. Smart kid, he’s hard nosed. He’ll make some rookies mistakes, but he does play 100 miles per hour.”

Masterson was filling in for injured linebacker Divine Deablo who will miss another game with an oblique injury. Thus the Raiders digging deep into the linebacker corps for Eichenberg to get the start earlier than the Raiders intended.

He will be the fourth Raiders rookie to start this season for the Raiders. Others include top pick Brock Bowers, Round two guard Jackson Powers-Johnson, third round tackle DJ Glaze.

What compensation Raiders said to be looking for in Davante Adams trade

Reports have the Raiders giving somewhat specific terms to teams interested in trading for Davante Adams.

Things seems to be picking up steam quickly with regard to a trade involving Davante Adams. First he’s suddenly missing a game due to a mysterious hamstring injury from practice, then his head coach is liking posts about trade rumors involving him, then they’re said to be shopping him, and, as it turns out it’s at his request.

Now we’ve moved to the compensation portion of the program. Which according to Adam Schefter would involve at least a round two pick along with other compensation.

Most probably assume “Additional compensation” would be a player swap as well. Perhaps a receiver the team taking on Davante would no longer start once Adams arrives. But it’s hard to say for sure.

You’d have to think that if a team expected to be low in the first round offered them a first round pick, they’d take that as well. Davante is still an elite receiver who could be the missing piece for a Super Bowl ring for the right team. Several teams you’d have to figure would step up to win that sweepstakes.