One of Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden’s most prominent beliefs in team-building is to create competition at every single spot on the roster, even at quarterback. We saw that come to fruition this year as the team added Marcus Mariota to back up Derek Carr.
Currently, the position that is the most crowded is at wide receiver. Despite paying Tyrell Williams last offseason and bringing in players like Hunter Renfrow and Zay Jones, the team added two receivers in the draft and another in free agency in Nelson Agholor.
In a recent piece by ESPN, the site asked their 32 beat writers to name the biggest positional battles entering training camp. According to Paul Gutierrez, wide receiver is the position with the most uncertainty on the roster right now. Take a look at Gutierrez’s thoughts on the wide receiver room entering camp:
“It’s a renovated and, thus, crowded room, one that added Henry Ruggs III and Bryan Edwards in the draft and Nelson Agholor in free agency to upgrade the position for quarterback Derek Carr. They join returning players Tyrell Williams, Hunter Renfrow, Zay Jones, Keelan Doss, Marcell Ateman, Rico Gafford and De’Mornay Pierson-El. And if the Raiders keep only five receivers, Jones, who has the third-highest cap number among receivers on the team at more than $1.38 million but no dead money, could be squeezed out.”
The most likely scenario for the 2020 season is that Williams and Ruggs will start in two-receiver sets with Renfrow coming in to play the slot on passing downs. Players like Agholor and Edwards will likely rotate in, but both are expected to be more depth players than starters.
But as Gutierrez mentioned, one of the biggest wildcards in the group is Zay Jones, who the team traded for last season. He’s experienced and has the size and speed to potentially be a starter. But if he can’t crack the top-five receivers, it’s conceivable that the Raiders could look to move him before the season begins.
As we have seen during the Gruden era, he’s not opposed to reshuffling the unit if he’s not getting the production he expects. Look for the Raiders to tinker with their wide receiver corps all season long as they search for the right combination that fits with Carr.
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