Today the Raiders made a swap at wide receiver. They waived Tyron Johnson and added veteran WR Albert Wilson to the practice squad.
Johnson made the Raiders roster out of camp over the likes of Demarcus Robinson and Keelan Cole. But he hasn’t been a big part of the offense through the first four games, so the team made a move in the hopes of getting some production.
For whatever reason, Johnson has seen just four snaps this season. Which makes you wonder why they kept him in the first place if they weren’t going to use him.
The obvious answer would seem to be special teams, on which Johnson is coming off a terrible game last week against the Broncos. First he ran into Keelan Cole on a punt return, causing him to muff it and lose a bunch of yards. Then later caused a nice punt return to be called back by an illegal block penalty.
You can see how Josh McDaniels might have been impressed enough with Wilson to sign him. This preseason with the Vikings, Wilson had two catches — both for touchdowns — against the Raiders.
Wilson doesn’t offer much on special teams. He hasn’t been a kick return specialist since 2017 and saw no snaps on special teams last season.
There hasn’t been a lot of balls to go around for the Raiders so far this season; at least not after Davante Adams, Darren Waller, and Mack Hollins.