Tag: Marcus Epps

What Condition the Position is in: Assessing Raiders need at safety ahead of free agency

What Condition the Position is in: Safety

With free agency weeks away, it’s time to check in on the Raiders’ safety position to give it a condition of either Strong, Stable, Unstable, Serious, or Critical.

Starters: Tre’von Moehrig, Marcus Epps
Depth: Isaiah Pola-Mao, Chris Smith II, Jaydon Grant, Tyreque Jones
Free Agents: None

All 17 games last season Moehrig and Epps were the starters and played nearly every snap. The former in his second season as the a second round pick, the latter as one of the team’s top free agent signings of 2023. They made for a pretty decent pair.

Former undrafted Pola-Mao has shown some flashes that if needed, he could step up. Smith was highly touted coming from the National Champion Georgia squad. But the fifth round rookie played sparingly in his first season.

Condition: Stable

Everyone is back. Two solid returning starters, some decent competition for the next two off the bench and special teamers. They could run it back with this group and be just fine.

2024 NFL Draft: Final compensatory pick projections for the Eagles

Philadelphia will receive a third-round compensatory pick and three fifth-round compensatory picks, according to Nick Korte of OverTheCap after losing Javon Hargrave, Isaac Seumalo, Andre Dillard and T.J. Edwards in free agency.

The Eagles made several critical signings during the 2023 NFL free agency process, with all of the additions being one-year deals.

Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman watched ten contributors leave on the open market.

Thanks to his shrewd maneuvering and roster building, the Eagles are in line for four valuable compensatory picks in 2024, according to Nick Korte of Over The Cap.

The Birds were slated to have six picks in the 2024 NFL draft, but thanks to the compensatory formula, they’ll have 10.

1 Eagles’ own pick
2 Eagles’ own pick
2 From Saints
3 Projected compensatory pick
5 From Vikings (can become fourth-round pick if conditions are met)
5 From Buccaneers
5 Projected compensatory pick
5 Projected compensatory pick
6 Eagles’ own pick, or the Titans’ sixth-round pick, whichever is better
6 Projected compensatory pick

Here’s an early look at the four compensatory picks and how Philadelphia landed the extra assets.

Raiders Week 16 snap counts vs Chiefs: CB Amik Robertson leads team in snaps

CB Amik Robertson led Raiders in snaps and had a career-high 8 tackles vs Chiefs

The Raiders have gotten contributions from some unexpected places of late. That goes especially on defense where they’ve been one of the league’s top units since Antonio Pierce took over as interim head coach.

One of Pierce’s favorite players is Amik Robertson, who is a firey cornerback always out to prove he is better than people have given him credit for over the years.

The 5-9, 183-pounder saw every snap on defense along with three on special teams. His 79 snaps led the team. It was just the fifth time in his career he played every snap on defense. And his 76 defensive snaps were his second most ever. The result was a career-high eight combined tackles.

All told, the Raiders starting secondary of Robertson, Jack Jones, Nate Hobbs, Marcus Epps, and Tre’von Moehrig missed just one snap on defense (Jones).

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Dylan Parham G 55 100% 3 12%
Thayer Munford T 55 100% 3 12%
Aidan O’Connell QB 55 100% 0 0%
Andre James C 55 100% 0 0%
Greg Van Roten G 53 96% 3 12%
Jermaine Eluemunor T 53 96% 3 12%
Davante Adams WR 50 91% 1 4%
Austin Hooper TE 49 89% 0 0%
Jakobi Meyers WR 45 82% 1 4%
Zamir White RB 42 76% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 22 40% 0 0%
Jakob Johnson FB 19 35% 14 56%
Cole Fotheringham TE 19 35% 8 32%
Ameer Abdullah RB 12 22% 14 56%
Hunter Renfrow WR 11 20% 1 4%
DJ Turner WR 4 7% 16 64%
Kolton Miller T 2 4% 3 12%
Jordan Meredith G 2 4% 3 12%
Brandon Bolden RB 1 2% 21 84%
Justin Herron T 1 2% 3 12%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Amik Robertson CB 76 100% 3 12%
Robert Spillane LB 76 100% 1 4%
Maxx Crosby DE 76 100% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 76 100% 0 0%
Marcus Epps SS 76 100% 0 0%
Nate Hobbs CB 76 100% 0 0%
Jack Jones CB 75 99% 0 0%
Divine Deablo LB 66 87% 0 0%
Malcolm Koonce DE 50 66% 12 48%
Tyree Wilson DE 43 57% 5 20%
Adam Butler DT 36 47% 3 12%
Bilal Nichols DT 26 34% 5 20%
John Jenkins DT 26 34% 5 20%
Jerry Tillery DT 23 30% 3 12%
Janarius Robinson DE 21 28% 8 32%
Brandon Facyson CB 9 12% 0 0%
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 5 7% 17 68%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Curtis Bolton LB 0 0% 22 88%
Luke Masterson LB 0 0% 22 88%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 12 48%
Tyler Hall CB 0 0% 10 40%
Amari Burney LB 0 0% 10 40%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 9 36%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 9 36%
DeAndre Carter WR 0 0% 8 32%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 8 32%
Jakorian Bennett CB 0 0% 5 20%

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 15 rout of Chargers

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 14 route of Chargers

What an insane game this was. Four days earlier, the Raiders were shut out 3-0 by the Vikings. Then they come out in this one and not only score a touchdown on their opening drive, not only score 21 points in the first quarter, not only go up 42-0 in the first half, not only scored 49 points before the Chargers scored for the first time, but scored a franchise record 63 points in a 63-21 trouncing of the Chargers.

That was one heck of a run-on sentence.

So, you might just see a heavy dose of Ballers this week. I wasn’t even sure there’d be a Buster, but in the end I found one. But just one.

Raiders Week 11 snap counts: S Isaiah Pola-Mao career-high leads team in total snaps

S Isaiah Pola-Mao career-high leads Raiders in total snaps

In just about every game this season the Raiders have had to go with the ‘next man up’ at one of the defensive back spots. As of now, the only DBs on the team who have not missed any time are safety Tre’von Moehrig and cornerback Marcus Peters.

Up until Sunday in Miami, Marcus Epps was on that list. But he was lost in the first quarter with a neck injury. Coming in for him was Isaiah Pola-Mao.

The former undrafted free agent out of USC played the final three quarters on defense (77%) while also performing his usual special teams duties (88%). His combined 77 snaps was the most on the team.

It also set several career highs for Pola-Mao. It was the most defensive snaps (54) of his career, the most special teams snaps of his career (23), the most tackles of his career (7). He also recorded his first career interception.

Epps is a solid safety. But the Raiders no doubt feel pretty good having Pola-Mao as an option should Epps miss extended time.

Offense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Greg Van Roten G 61 100% 3 12%
Thayer Munford T 61 100% 3 12%
Jermaine Eluemunor T 61 100% 3 12%
Aidan O’Connell QB 61 100% 0 0%
Andre James C 61 100% 0 0%
Davante Adams WR 60 98% 0 0%
Dylan Parham G 58 95% 3 12%
Jakobi Meyers WR 50 82% 0 0%
Michael Mayer TE 49 80% 3 12%
Josh Jacobs RB 47 77% 0 0%
Austin Hooper TE 29 48% 0 0%
Hunter Renfrow WR 27 44% 0 0%
Tre Tucker WR 24 39% 4 15%
Ameer Abdullah RB 14 23% 18 69%
DeAndre Carter WR 3 5% 8 31%
Jordan Meredith G 3 5% 3 12%
Jesper Horsted TE 2 3% 18 69%
Defense Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Marcus Peters CB 70 100% 0 0%
Tre’von Moehrig FS 70 100% 0 0%
Maxx Crosby DE 70 100% 0 0%
Robert Spillane LB 70 100% 0 0%
Nate Hobbs CB 69 99% 0 0%
Isaiah Pola-Mao FS 54 77% 23 88%
John Jenkins DT 44 63% 5 19%
Bilal Nichols DT 41 59% 5 19%
Tyler Hall CB 41 59% 3 12%
Divine Deablo LB 41 59% 0 0%
Adam Butler DT 39 56% 3 12%
Jerry Tillery DT 35 50% 5 19%
Malcolm Koonce DE 32 46% 23 88%
Luke Masterson LB 23 33% 23 88%
Malik Reed LB 19 27% 5 19%
Tyree Wilson DE 19 27% 5 19%
Marcus Epps SS 16 23% 0 0%
Jack Jones CB 12 17% 0 0%
Jakorian Bennett CB 5 7% 0 0%
Special Teams Spec Tms
Player Pos Num Pct Num Pct
Brandon Bolden RB 0 0% 23 88%
Curtis Bolton LB 0 0% 18 69%
DJ Turner WR 0 0% 18 69%
Christopher Smith SS 0 0% 17 65%
Zamir White RB 0 0% 11 42%
AJ Cole III P 0 0% 9 35%
Jacob Bobenmoyer LS 0 0% 9 35%
Daniel Carlson K 0 0% 7 27%
Amik Robertson CB 0 0% 5 19%
Brandon Parker T 0 0% 3 1

Ballers & Busters for Raiders Week 2 loss to Bills

Raiders Week 2 Ballers & Busters

Safe to say this is one the Raiders would like to put behind them. But hopefully not before they try and learn from it. If there is anything to learn other than that they just can’t hang with a team like the Bills.

Things looked promising on the opening drive for the Raiders, just as they did in the opener in Denver. But it didn’t last long. A 7-0 lead in the first three minutes was a 21-10 deficit at the half and ended with a 38-10 demolition.

It’s hard to pinpoint much of anything that was actually working for the Raiders. Which should be pretty clear in this weeks Busters. But before we get to those details, let’s get the few Ballers out of the way.

Ballers

WR Davante Adams

As if often the case, Adams is a rare bright light in the darkness. He made a 16-yard back shoulder grab to convert the first third down of the game and then ended the opening drive by taking a screen pass 17 yards to the house.

The other scoring drive for the Raiders, Adams caught a 19-yard pass on third and 11 and later in the drive put the team in scoring range by breaking off his route and getting behind the DB to make a 21-yard catch.

He finished with six catches for 84 yards and a touchdown.

T Kolton Miller

He kept Garoppolo’s blind side protected all day and on the Adams touchdown screen, he got out wide to make the block.

S Marcus Epps

Epps did his best to stop to the Bills from scoring in the first quarter. He broke on a pass in the flat to stop it for a loss and two plays later made the stop on third down to bring up fourth and one. But as happened most of the day, the Bills converted it and went on to score anyway.

The one time in the game the Raiders were actually able to stop the Bills  on fourth and short, Epps set it up by making the stop on a Josh Allen scramble at the goal line.

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Raiders 2023 Team Captains includes newcomers Robert Spillane, Marcus Epps

Raiders announce 9 Team Captains including Josh Jacobs, Robert Spillane, Marcus Epps

Today the Raiders named nine team captains. Four on offense, three one defense, and two on special teams.

Those captains are as follows:

Offense

QB Jimmy Garoppolo
RB Josh Jacobs
WR Davante Adams
LT Kolton Miller

Defense

DE Maxx Crosby
LB Robert Spillane
S Marcus Epps

Special teams

K Daniel Carlson
P AJ Cole

Of note among the captains is Josh Jacobs who just took the practice field for the first time this week after sitting out all of camp until he received a new one-year deal in lieu of signing the franchise tag.

Also of note is Robert Spillane and Marcus Epps who signed with the team this offseason. They were chosen over returning starters at those positions Divine Deablo and Tre’von Moehrig.

Third year starting cornerback Nate Hobbs may have also been a fine choice as a captain. But no players who were captains last season were stripped of that status this year.

Raiders training camp preview: New additions to 90-man roster

Raiders vets report to camp tomorrow. Here’s all the New additions to 90-man roster.

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Veterans report to Raiders training camp Tuesday. Among them will be a lot of new faces in Silver & Black. Here is the full list:

*denotes projected starter

Veteran free agents (20)

QB Jimmy Garoppolo*
QB Brian Hoyer
WR Jakobi Meyers*
WR DeAndre Carter
WR Phillip Dorsett
WR Cam Sims
WR Kristian Wilkerson
TE Austin Hooper
TE OJ Howard
G Greg Van Roten
DT John Jenkins
DE Jordan Willis
LB Robert Spillane*
CB Marcus Peters*
CB Duke Shelley*
CB David Long Jr
CB Brandon Facyson
S Marcus Epps*
S Jaquan Johnson
LS Jacob Bobenmoyer

Rookies (19)

DE Tyree Wilson, D-1, Texas Tech
TE Michael Mayer*, D-2, Notre Dame
DT Byron Young, D-3, Alabama
WR Tre Tucker, D-3, Cincinnati
CB Jakorian Bennett, D-4, Maryland
QB Aidan O’Connell, D-4, Purdue
S Christopher Smith II, D-5, Georgia
LB Amari Burney, D-6, Florida
DT Nesta Jade Silvera, D-7, Arizona State
DE David Agoha, NFL IPP, Nigeria
G McClendon Curtis, UDFA, Tennessee-Chattanooga
S Jaydon Grant, UDFA, Oregon State
CB Azizi Hearn, UDFA, UCLA
CB Jordan Perryman, UDFA, Washington
DE Adam Plant, UDFA, UNLV
TE John Samuel Shenker, UDFA, Auburn
DE George Tarlas, UDFA, Boise State
LB Drake Thomas, UDFA, N.C. State
T Dalton Wagner, UDFA, Arkansas

That’s 39 new additions which is nearly half the 90-man training camp roster.

Seven of the newcomers project as starters right away including QB Jimmy Garoppolo, WR Jakobi Meyers, TE Michael Mayer, LB Robert Spillane, CBs Marcus Peters and Duke Shelley, and S Marcus Epps. Though much could change during the course of training camp.

They will also have a new long snapper in Jacob Bobenmoyer.

Rookie DE Tyree Wilson (D-1) begins camp on the Non-football injury list while DT Byron Young (D-3) begins on the PUP list.

Ranking the safety tandems in the AFC West

How does each AFC West team compare at the safety position?

The final position on the defense that gets a look is the safety spot. And the AFC West has two of the best in the league in its ranks.