Returning Raider Nation’s questions for the week
The Las Vegas Raiders are evaluating the players on the current roster during OTAs, and the coaching staff might find a few holes it wants to address before training camp. So, the primary focus of this week’s mailbag will be on the remaining free agents and exploring the Raiders’ current depth chart.
Q: Do you think the Raiders will add a veteran running back and a rotational edge rusher? Maxx Crosby has been hurt, and so has Malcolm Koonce, and if Ashton Jeanty gets hurt, the Raiders are cooked.
A: At running back, I’d be interested to see if Nick Chubb has anything left. However, Chubb’s body seems to be breaking down as he’s only played in 10 games over the last two seasons, suffering season-ending injuries during both campaigns, and he posted a career-low 3.3 yards per carry in 2024 while coming back from a torn ACL and MCL the year prior.
Ultimately, I think the coaching staff will lean on Raheem Mostert as the veteran back this season and hope that Sincere McCormick can build off the promise he showed during that three-game run from last season.
At edge rusher, I see where you’re coming from since the position group lacks depth behind Crosby and Koonce. But Koonce returning to practice this week reduces the urgency to add someone.
If the front office is going to add someone significant between now and training camp, I think it will be at the nickel spot. So, here’s my weekly shameless plug to sign Mike Hilton! Glad we could get that one out of the way early!
Q: Do the Raiders add another wide receiver? Because if Jakobi Meyers goes down and Jack Bech doesn’t perform well, they’re cooked, depending on Tre Tucker, and we already are hearing that Thornton isn’t ready anytime soon.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
A: Can I interest you in former Raider, Amari Cooper? Cooper is coming off his least productive season as a pro with 44 catches for 547 yards and four touchdowns while playing for two teams. But he might have some juice left after racking up over 1,200 yards with the Browns two years ago.
There are a few notable wideouts still availabe in free agency, like Keenan Allen, Tyler Boyd and another former Raider, Nelson Agholor. However, I get the feeling the organization is confident Bech will hit the ground running and wants to give the young guys on the depth chart as many reps as possible.
If I had to put money on it, I’d bet Las Vegas doesn’t add another receiver before training camp.
Q: Do you think the Raiders will extend Jakobi Meyers and Kolton Miller before the season starts? And do you think they should?
A: I get a little weary of extending Miller because of his injuries over the last couple of years, and the fact that he’s getting up there in age. But the Raiders waiting until the third round to draft an offensive tackle leads me to believe they’re looking to extend Miller.
It will be interesting to see how much guaranteed money they’ll offer, because I can get behind a team-friendly deal where Las Vegas has an out in a year or two if he struggles to stay healthy or isn’t playing well.
Meanwhile, I’m all for a Meyers extension. He’s exceeded my expectations since coming aboard two years ago, and I was really impressed with how he managed to have a career year last season despite terrible quarterback play. I just hope the new regime recognizes that as well and gives him a new deal.
Q: Do you think that the “competition” talk is for real when it comes to the previous regime’s draft choices versus the John Spytek/Pete Carroll draft choices?
A: Spytek and Carroll are definitely going to favor the players they brought in over the ones they inherited. Consciously or subconsciously, it’s just human nature to prefer your choices over someone else’s.
That said, I do think Carroll is self-aware enough and has been around the block for so long to recognize that he could get it wrong and will play the guys who are performing better in training camp, rather than just sticking with “his guys”. Everywhere Carroll has coached, he’s been big on competing, so I think the position battles will be legitimate this summer.
Spytek is a little more of a wild card in this regard since he’s never been a general manager before. But he doesn’t strike me as an ego-maniac who wouldn’t listen to Carroll when it comes to players competing for playing time.
Q: What does Cam Miller need to be considered the Raiders’ future quarterback? He doesn’t have bad tape and he moves well with his legs.
Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
A: I agree that Miller has good tape and moves well. The biggest reservation I have with him is that he doesn’t have NFL-level arm strength. The issue is that he also doesn’t have NFL size, and those two weaknesses are somewhat related. If he can start throwing with more velocity and push the ball down the field with more consistency, then those conversations can start happening. But until then, don’t expect the sixth-round pick to be much more than a high-level backup, and that’s perfectly fine!
A: Jonah Laulu struggled with consistency last season, but he showed enough flashes in both phases of the game for me to be intrigued by him heading into the upcoming campaign. He has a good blend of strength and athleticism to be a well-rounded defensive tackle if he continues to develop.
Especially if Christian Wilkins has to miss time at the beginning of the season, Laulu will definitely be a big part of the defensive tackle rotation. He ended up getting seven starts in 2024 after Wilkins went down, and the second-year pro should get a good amount of playing time if Patrick Graham continues to use a lot of five-man fronts like last year.
Even if Wilkins is healthy and ready to go in Week 1, I like Laulu to be the first defensive tackle off the bench, assuming Adam Butler is starting.
That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to SBPQuestions1@gmail.com or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays. Sign up and go to the comments section.