Tag: Dylan Laube

Raiders rookie RB will get most extensive playing time of season vs. Denver

Antonio Pierce updated the Raiders’ running back health and indicated that a rookie could be in the mix for Las Vegas versus Denver.

As the Raiders (2-8) look to halt a six-game losing streak against a Denver team that is on the rise, Las Vegas could be turning to one of its youngsters to help carry the offensive load.

Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce revealed in his media availability that Las Vegas’ top two running backs, Alexander Mattison and Zamir White, did not practice on Wednesday.

“Yeah, so two running backs won’t practice and neither will Jack Jones today. So, next man up mentality. Get some of these younger guys some reps, see how they do, and hopefully we get these guys back by the end of the week,” Pierce said.

Pierce also outlined the Raiders’ running back plans if they are without both Mattison and White against Denver. It includes a 10-year NFL vet and a  rookie that fans will be excited to get an extended look.

“Yeah, I mean you’re looking at Ameer [Abdullah], looking at Dylan [Laube], and then we got Sincere [McCormick] there on the practice squad. So get him some reps, get him going. Obviously, with those two gentleman not practicing today, we’ll definitely ramp up everybody else,” Pierce said.

Abdullah, a 10th-year pro out of Nebraska, enters Week 12 with 17 carries for 82 rushing yards and one rushing score in this 2024 season. The 5-foot-9, 203 pound running back has also caught 17 passes for 76 receiving yards and a score in 2024.

Laube is a rookie out of New Hampshire and was selected in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL draft with the 208th overall selection. The 5-foot-10, 208 pound running back has carried just once this season in the Raiders’ 32-13 Week 6 loss versus Pittsburgh.

In his New Hampshire career, Laube rushed 544 times for 2,678 yards and 29 touchdowns.

Pierce shed light on what he’s seen from Laube thus far.

“The key word right there is work ethic, because he’s a scout team running back there, giving us a good look,” Pierce said of his rookie back. “Obviously, we had some fumbles early on, talked about that with the ball security. And again, here’s a great example, right? Well, here’s your opportunity. Are you ready?

“And we’ve been talking about that. I keep talking about rookies, our younger players, you never know when your name will get called, your number is going to get called. And if it’s this week, be ready for it. But I will say this, he shows up every day, he’s in the building as early as most of our vets. He’s prepared, he goes out to practice, practices hard. He gives us good looks, got a smile on his face, and he works.”

While Laube could suddenly turn into one of the key focal points of the Raiders’ rushing attack versus the Broncos, the health statuses of Mattison and White will obviously remain key storylines to track as this week unfolds.

Mattison leads the Raiders in rushing on the season with 320 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on 97 carries. White has tallied 183 rushing yards and one score on 65 totes this season.

Kickoff between the Raiders and Broncos is set for 1:05 p.m. PT from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The Raiders fell at the Broncos, 34-18, in the two teams’ first meeting this season on Oct. 6.

Raiders Week 11 inactives vs Dolphins

The list of those who will not suit up for the Raiders Week 11 against the Dolphins.

Game time is coming up in about an hour and a half, which means we now know the list of those Raiders who won’t suit up in Miami to take on the Dolphins. They are as follows as posted on social media by the Raiders:

Nate Hobbs (ankle), Cody Whitehair (ankle), Andre James (ankle), and Harrison Bryant (yes, ankle) were all OUT on the Raiders final injury report.

Hobbs will be replaced at slot cornerback by Darnay Holmes.

Whitehair will be replaced at left guard by Dylan Parham.

James will be replaced at center by Jackson Powers-Johnson.

Bryant will be replaced as the third tight end by Justin Shorter.

Dylan Laube, Trey Taylor, and Zach Carter are all healthy scratches.

The only player who was Questionable on the Raiders injury report was Michael Mayer who came off the Non-Football Injury list on Friday, which signaled that he would be playing in the game.

Raiders worst in NFL in every turnover statistic after Week 7

Every one of the primary turnover statistics has the Raiders dead last. In some cases by a wide margin.

I don’t know how rare this is, but the Raiders are sitting in quite a spot in terms of turnovers. Seven weeks in, the Raiders are the worst is every turnover statistic. Some by a wide margin.

Here are the bottom five in each of the turnover stats for this season:

Interceptions:

28. Chiefs 8
28. Packers 8
28. Titans 8
31. Panthers 9
32. Raiders 10

Gardner Minshew 8
Aidan O’Connell 2

Fumbles lost:

27. Patriots 5
27. Vikings 5
27. Broncos 5
27. Saints 5
31. Cardinals 6
31. Raiders 6

Gardner Minshew 2
Zamir White 2
Ameer Abdullah 1
Dylan Laube 1

Turnovers:

26. Packers 11
26. 49ers 11
26. Cowboys 11
26. Saints 11
30. Panthers 12
30. Titans 12
32. Raiders 16

Turnover differential

28. Eagles -6
28. Cowboys -6
28. Panthers -6
31. Titans -9
32. Raiders -13

Robert Spillane 1 INT
Tre’von Moehrig 1 INT
Nate Hobbs 1 INT

To make matters worse, they have yet to recover a single forced a fumble this season. So, they’re tied for the worst in that category as well.

These stats are why their turnover differential is twice that of the teams just two spots ahead of them.

Four times this season the Raiders have turned the ball over at least three times. Sunday against the Rams they turned it over four times. The first three turned in to touchdowns. The fourth ended the game.

Busters for Raiders Week 6 loss vs Steelers

The poor performances that led to the Raiders collapse against the Steelers.

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. The Raiders did it time and time again in this game. So, as you can imagine, there were a lot of Busters for this one. Let’s get to it.

Busters

HC Antonio Pierce

Just like last week in Denver, one mistake and this team lost its way and went off the rails. Everything just fell apart. And kept falling apart. One thing after another. First it was randomly giving a rookie a carry and then that rookie fumbling the ball away. That seemed to be the mistake that sent the team into their spiral.

From there it was a roughing penalty that wiped away an interception (leading to a touchdown), a holding penalty that wiped away a long completion (leading to a punt), a blocked punt (leading to a field goal), another roughing the passer penalty that kept a drive alive (leading to a touchdown).

Those mistakes put the Steelers up 22-7. The Raiders would mount a drive that looked to have ended with a touchdown. Twice. The first time, a Mattison TD catch was wiped away by a highly questionable ineligible man downfield penalty on Jackson Powers-Johnson. That sucks, sure, but on the next play Ameer Abdullah ran toward the endzone, diving for the goal line and looked like he may have scored. He was ruled down at the one, but after further review, it looked like he may have gotten in. But rather than challenge it, Pierce rushed the offense to the line for another play. Abdullah got the ball again and fumbled it away.

That was as close as the Raiders would get to making a game of it. An interception on the next possession gave the Steelers first and goal and they put the game away with over eight minutes left. What a discombobulated mess this team is right now. It started in week three and has only gotten worse since then. The blame starts with the head coach.

QB Aidan O’Connell

Everything looked great on the opening drive! But once things went off script, all that ended. Two consecutive three-and-out possessions in which he went three of five for seven yards.

O’Connell was overthrowing his receivers a lot in this game. Either too high or too long. Four of the first five drives from the end of the second quarter to fourth quarter ended with passes that were too high. The final one led to the game sealing interception.

RB Dylan Laube

His fumble started the implosion. His first career carry was a fumble. That’s gotta hurt.

DT Matthew Butler

That fumble would have been largely forgotten had Deablo’s interception stood. It didn’t because Butler was flagged for roughing the passer. It was an iffy call, but Butler made it easy when, after he landed on top of Justin Fields, he stayed in his face for a few seconds taunting him.

S Chris Smith II

It was still a one score game to begin the third quarter. Then AJ Cole’s punt was blocked. And it was Smith who missed his block that caused it. The Steelers got the ball inside the ten and added a field goal to make it an eight point game.

DE K’Lavon Chaisson

Chaisson got his first sack as a Raider. But before we could congratulate him on it, the very next play he was flagged for roughing the passer on a play the Raiders had stopped to force a punt. Instead the drive was kept alive and led to a touchdown.

LB Robert Spillane

That touchdown after the Chaisson roughing penalty came on a 36-yard run by Najee Harris who took the handoff out left and Spillane missed the tackle, allowing Harris to be gone for the score. The next Steelers touchdown after the interception came on a play action fake in which Justin Fields kept it on a naked boot. But Spillane bit hard on the play fake and Fields was already streaking for the end zone by the time he realized what was happening.

His eight tackles in this game were is fewest of the season and the first time he failed to hit double digits. That’s gotta sting against his former team.

RB Ameer Abdullah

From what could have been a touchdown to a fumble. Hero to goat. In one play. The Raiders defense held up to get the ball back. But Abdullah muffed the punt which had their drive starting at their own 13. That wasn’t his first mistake on punt return duties either. In the second quarter, he fielded a punt and ran backward, losing a yard to be stopped at the 16.

See the Ballers

Raiders meltdowns are now piling up and they’re getting worse

From the Collapse vs Carolina to the Debacle in Denver to that masterstroke of a meltdown vs the Steelers. The Raiders are spiraling out of control.

Each week it seems the Raiders have a ‘hold my beer’ game to outdo their last one. As if they are talking to their past selves and saying ‘that’s nothin! Watch this!’ and setting a new bar for flailing and implosion.

Let’s start with Week three against the Panthers.

The Raiders were coming off a miraculous fourth quarter comeback win in Baltimore and in turn were feeling pretty good about themselves as they prepped for their home opener.

The Raiders managed to score on their opening drive and it was tied up 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. From that point on, Andy Dalton and the Panthers boat raced them. The Raiders run game went nowhere, averaging 2.9 yards per carry while the defense was gouged by big plays time and time again. It was 33-7 before the Raiders offense even converted another third down!

After the game came the infamous remarks from Antonio Pierce accusing more than one of his players of making ‘business decisions’ in the game.

The following week Davante Adams was out with a sudden hamstring injury, Maxx Crosby missed his first career game, and Jack Jones was benched for the first half. The Raiders somehow held on for the win merely by virtue of Deshaun Watson being utterly terrible.

And the next day Adams requested a trade and hasn’t played since.

Week five was a trip to Denver against a Broncos team that on paper seemed to be a fairly similar team — good defense but a struggling defense.

The Raiders scored a touchdown on their opening drive and jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter. They were well on their way to scoring a third time to take what would have been a 17-3 lead. But Gardner Minshew overshot Brock Bowers at point blank range and Patrick Surtain Jr picked it off and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown.

Despite consecutive three-and-out by the Raider, it was still tied at 10-10 with two minutes left in the first half and the Raiders got the ball back with just under two minutes with a chance to right the ship and take the lead back. Their attempt consisted of two penalties, three runs, and a punt. So, the Broncos got the ball back and scored instead.

In the third quarter, Minshew threw another interception, was benched for Aidan O’Connell who then also threw an interception. Meanwhile the Broncos rattled off 34 straight points, putting the game away with more than eight minutes left in the game.

That brings us to last Sunday which took the meltdown to new levels.

O’Connell got the start and led the Raiders on a touchdown drive to start things off. That was the scripted drive. And that was where the success ended, soon devolving in a tragicomedy.

The next two drives ended in three-and-outs. Then on the fourth play of the next drive, rookie running back Dylan Laube got his first career carry. Before he even got to the line of scrimmage, the ball was punched out and recovered at the Vegas 30-yard line.

On the second play of the Steelers possession, the Raiders took it back…for an instant. Divine Deablo intercepted a Justin Fields pass over the middle and the Raiders got the ball right back. But wait, a flag. It was roughing the passer on Matthew Butler, who landed on Fields and then stayed in his face while on the turf. The interception was wiped away and the Steelers kept the ball, moving 12 yards closer. A few plays later they were in the end zone.

To begin the third quarter, they had an 18-yard Brock Bowers catch called back by an Andre James holding penalty. That led to a punt. And the punt was blocked, with the Steelers getting the ball at the Vegas nine-yard line and they added a field goal to take a 15-7 lead.

The next Steelers drive looked to end with a punt, but K’Lavon Chaisson was flagged for roughing the passer. Two plays later, Najee Harris got the left edge and went 36 yards for the touchdown.

Now down 22-7, the Raiders needed to put something together to have a chance. They drove to first and goal at the eight. Alexander Mattison took a short pass and scored the touchdown. But, wait, there was a flag. Jackson Powers-Johnson was illegally downfield.

The next play, Ameer Abdullah ran for the end zone, diving toward the goal line and appeared as if he may have gotten in. He was ruled down at the one and on the next play, he fumbled the ball away.

Next Raiders possession started with O’Connell getting sacked, then on third and 19 from his own four-yard-line, he was intercepted. Justin Fields took the naked boot for a touchdown in one play and that put the game on ice.

This game had it all! Fumbles, penalties nullifying takeaways, penalties keeping drives alive, penalties nullifying scores, fumbles at the goal line, interceptions at your own goal line, and so much more!

It was so bad it made the Collapse vs Carolina and the Debacle in Denver look like child’s play.

This team is a shell of the inspired team that finished last season strong. They are just plain lost. They can cobble things together for a few minutes early in games, but it falls apart quickly and at the first crack in the wall, the whole house comes down. This is three times now we’ve seen it happen in just six games and it is just getting worse with each occurrence.

How do the Raiders possibly outdo themselves now? Tune in next week when they visit the LA Rams.

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%

Two Raiders drafted rookies make their first starts, a third makes his debut Week 4

Two Raiders drafted rookies make their first starts, a third makes his debut Week 4

Just four weeks into the 2024 seasons and the Raiders are turning to their draft class to give them a boost. Two of their rookies are making their first starts of the season, both along the offensive line.

Getting his first start at right tackle is DJ Glaze. The third rounder replaces injury starter Thayer Munford. Glaze came in on the third play last Sunday when Munford left with knee and ankle injuries and didn’t return. Munford inactive today.

Coming in to make his first start at left guard is Jackson Powers-Johnson. The second rounder made his debut last week after being inactive the first two weeks with an illness. The Raiders had wanted Powers-Johnson to be the starter to begin the season, but the Rimington Award Winner out of Oregon missed much of the offseason and training camp with an undisclosed injury.

Making his debut is rookie running back Dylan Laube. The sixth rounder was much talked about in camp only to end up inactive for the first three games of the season. Now, with so many injuries on the team, they were able to fit him on the active roster. He came in the game for the first time on special teams.

Prior to this game only top pick TE Brock Bowers (13 overall) had started a game from this Raiders draft class.

Raiders Week 3 inactives vs Panthers

These players won’t play in Raiders home opener vs the Panthers.

The inactives are out and there aren’t a lot of surprises among them.

https://twitter.com/Raiders/status/1837923650126991517

LB Divine Deablo was ruled OUT on the final injury report with an oblique and concussion. Luke Masterson will start at linebacker in his place.

CB DeCamerion Richardson was Doubtful with a hamstring injury. The team activated Sam Webb to fill the depth issue.

RB Dylan Laube has been inactive all three games this season so far. They have three backs active in Zamir White, Alexander Mattison, and Ameer Abdullah.

Tyreik McAllister and Ramel Keyton being inactive is a numbers game. They have all of their wide receivers healthy.

Jordan Meredith being inactive is because rookie round two pick Jackson Powers-Johnson is playing in his first game of the season.

Watch: Raiders rookie RB Dylan Laube shows off killer twerking dance moves at practice

Dylan Laube put on another show at Raiders practice. This time with some serious twerking.

It is becoming more and more clear that Dylan Laube fits right in with this Raiders team. While we talk about the personalities of the likes of Maxx Crosby, Christian Wilkins, Jack Jones, Nate Hobbs, and Gardner Minshew, it’s time we put Laube in that conversation as well.

The most recent example was during Friday’s practice when Laube put on some righteous dance moves for his Raiders teammates as captured here by Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.

As Gutierrez notes, Laube earned the nickname “Cheddar Bob” this offseason for his antics which included a bang on and hilarious impression of teammate Maxx Crosby during the team’s beach day at the close of training camp in Costa Mesa.

His personality aside, the Raiders are hoping Laube’s moves on the field can help them both in the run game and the return game. From the time he was drafted, he was seen as a candidate to return kicks in the new kickoff rules as well as be a receiving back out of the backfield.

When it comes to kick and punt returns Raiders have good problem

When it comes to kick and punt returns Raiders have good problem

One position on the Raiders roster that doesn’t get discussed much, but probably should be is return specialist. It has become one of the more deep positions on the team, with several very good options to line up there.

Last season, the Raiders had one return specialist. One. It was DeAndre Carter who is no longer on the team. He returned both kicks and punts.

This year, those duties could go to as many as five different players on the team.

If you look at the depth chart on the Raiders website, they have Ameer Abdullah, DJ Turner, and Dylan Laube listed as kick returners and Tre Tucker and Abdullah as punt returners.

It was Abdullah who was the team’s primary kick returner back in 2022, which explains his spot atop the depth chart. Turner returned a few kicks and punts that season as well. Tucker was originally drafted for his speed and was electric returning punts this preseason. And Laube was drafted this year in part because the team hoped he would be a a good fit for the new kickoff rules. Though he didn’t show much in preseason.

The funny thing is, though, it may be that none of them are the team’s primary return specialist this season. That job could go to former CFLer Tyreik McAllister.

“I remember the first time Tyreik caught a punt return and it wasn’t even a full cover,” Abdullah recalled. “He just went along his track and he was just dat-dat-dat-dat-dat. His feet was just kinda like the Roadrunner. I was like ‘that dude can spin’. And to see it in live action, it just shows that it translates. I think the world of him.”

When Abdullah says it translates, he’s speaking of McCallister’s 81-yard punt return for a touchdown in the team’s preseason finale against the 49ers while averaging 30 yards per kick return in the preseason opener in Minnesota

McAllister put up return records last season with the CFL’s Hamilton Tigercats. The Raiders brought him in for that reason and he was a mainstay with the return specialists throughout the offseason and camp. The skills he put on display in the CFL showed up big time for the Raiders and earned him a place on the Raiders roster.

This does present a bit of a dilemma, though, for head coach Antonio Pierce.

McAllister lit up two of the preseason games on kicks and punts and Tucker showed off his speed with a 43-yard punt return in the second preseason game against the Cowboys. So, who gets the job come the season? That’s a good problem to have. And it sounds like the team is leaning toward McAllister.

“One is cool. Two’s better,” Pierce said of picking between Tucker and McAllister. “I mean, to be honest, McAllister’s role on offense is still to be determined, but we know what he can do. We’ve all seen that, and he did that even as a kickoff returner. . . And we got to be smart, right? Tre Tucker is one of our starting receivers, so McAllister has a role. I don’t know, is it this guy this week? Is it that guy? Is it the hot hand? But I think both guys have done an outstanding job now in the return game. I think we’ve seen that both as punt returners, and McAllister punt return and kickoff return.”

Tucker is impressing the team more and more as a receiver, so it could be smart to keep him focused on that. And with the depth they clearly have at return specialist, along with McAllister’s return talents, they have the luxury of making that decision.