TC Depth Chart/battles

[Quake Griffin]

1st depth chart is up.

http://www.raiders.com/team/depth-chart.html

[FNQ]

Gotta say, it's fantastic not seeing Rivera in a starting role. Walford should eventually take the top spot, hopefully moving Lee to #2.

They also have DJ as a starter over McGill, and have Sio as a backup to Malcolm. Also have T-Pain as direct backup to Murray, have Streater waaaaaaaaay down the DC (behind Thompkins, Roberts, Durham, Holmes, and Butler). No other surprises though. Ray Ray looks like he's keeping that job.

[Quake Griffin]

power on the inside…speed and agility at the ends.
Cannot wait to see this line do work.

I see Edwards behind Tuck.
Wonder if that was the plan all along to bring him along slowly and develop him before throwing him to the wolves.

[benchmobbin02]

I thnk Moore, RIchardson, Walford and Streater will all imrpove in camp standing due to just being on the field more.

If Streater can't stay healthy then Holmes, Thompkins and Butler all play solid mins and atleast 5 catches each a season and/or we look to add another guy to bring stability behind Cooper and Crab.

Walford is their choice to start but needs more reps. Let's see if Rivera can change some minds. I don't think they have any intention of going into the season with Lee as the starter.

Having Richardson this high even after him missing so much time early in camp says a lot about Dyer and Jones' chances of unseating him as #2 back. Helu is slotted into that #3/3rdrb spot. I don't see any more movement without injury.

Think it will be interesting to watch the Moore and Smith battle at Will. I think Moore would have the spot if 100% but I expect them to be bringing him along slowly. Whether that gets better is a mystery. Armstrong will be the LB to see the field the least of the starters due to Mack working on the line and then popping out to backer at times.

Overall I love the depth and quality choices we have this year.

[Quake Griffin]

Feliciano is behind Gabe at LG?

thought for certain we'd try to plug him into RG

[benchmobbin02]

With all that said, JDR said the below comment after it got posted. We can take what we want from this but we won't really know anything til Preseason games 3-4 when starters are cemented by the coaching staff.

"I think the biggest thing you can get out of the depth chart that's going to be released tomorrow is how much [Raiders senior director - media relations] Will [Kiss] has been paying attention," Del Rio said cracking a smile. "I'm just going to be honest with you, it's Will taking a stab at it and it's going to be fine until the season gets here. It's not going to really be my list until the season gets here, so whatever he put down, good for Will. If he's been watching we'll be in good shape."

I love having an experienced head coach. His cards aren't even in his pocket, they are in the office safe at home behind the picture of Mike Ditka.

[benchmobbin02]

Feliciano is behind Gabe at LG?

thought for certain we'd try to plug him into RG

I think that was the plan but when they we're able to sign Webb and he looked good in pads things changed and they didn't have to rush Feli into any spot. Being in the #2 at LG means he gets a lot of guaranteed practice snaps with team 2 and probably will be active in season. Think the plans for him are still there.

[FNQ]

I thnk Moore, RIchardson, Walford and Streater will all imrpove in camp standing due to just being on the field more.

If Streater can't stay healthy then Holmes, Thompkins and Butler all play solid mins and atleast 5 catches each a season and/or we look to add another guy to bring stability behind Cooper and Crab.

Walford is their choice to start but needs more reps. Let's see if Rivera can change some minds. I don't think they have any intention of going into the season with Lee as the starter.

Having Richardson this high even after him missing so much time early in camp says a lot about Dyer and Jones' chances of unseating him as #2 back. Helu is slotted into that #3/3rdrb spot. I don't see any more movement without injury.

Think it will be interesting to watch the Moore and Smith battle at Will. I think Moore would have the spot if 100% but I expect them to be bringing him along slowly. Whether that gets better is a mystery. Armstrong will be the LB to see the field the least of the starters due to Mack working on the line and then popping out to backer at times.

Overall I love the depth and quality choices we have this year.

I dont think Sio has that great a shot of being the Will unless he shows out in preseason. You can't miss that many tackles and stay in the glamour spot at LB. If he stays healthy and shows out, position is his. Ultimately I think the job is Smith's to lose, being that Norton knows him better and he has less missed tackles in 4 years (and twice as many snaps) as Sio did last year.

Don't sell short on Lee.. JDR has had a big time + blocker at TE the entire time he was HC in JAX. I dont think he had much of a say in Denver (Julius). But we gave Lee big money for a TE, I expect him to get a lot of reps, especially in the redzone. The guy is 10-15 lbs from being a tackle.

[Twinkie defense]

What's nagging Menelik now?

And what the heck was Taiwan Jones doing catching a bomb downfield?


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[FNQ]

Feliciano is behind Gabe at LG?

thought for certain we'd try to plug him into RG

I think that was the plan but when they we're able to sign Webb and he looked good in pads things changed and they didn't have to rush Feli into any spot. Being in the #2 at LG means he gets a lot of guaranteed practice snaps with team 2 and probably will be active in season. Think the plans for him are still there.

Yup. I think it's their way of effectively saying he's a redshirt this year. Don't worry about the Webb/Khalif/McCants/Mady/Howard clusterbone at RG, just focus on getting better in practice. If Feliciano shows he's ready to play, he'll get his shots. But (if the DC is true) setting the bar way, way higher is a good thing for him.

[FNQ]

What's nagging Menelik now?

And what the heck was Taiwan Jones doing catching a bomb downfield?


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Who knows.. it's annoying at this point. All the tools, but if you can't stay healthy, its just not worth the hassle.

Taiwan is going to be a gadget offensive player this year, per the beats, in addition to being a special teams ace. Which is great, he's a burner.

[benchmobbin02]

I thnk Moore, RIchardson, Walford and Streater will all imrpove in camp standing due to just being on the field more.

If Streater can't stay healthy then Holmes, Thompkins and Butler all play solid mins and atleast 5 catches each a season and/or we look to add another guy to bring stability behind Cooper and Crab.

Walford is their choice to start but needs more reps. Let's see if Rivera can change some minds. I don't think they have any intention of going into the season with Lee as the starter.

Having Richardson this high even after him missing so much time early in camp says a lot about Dyer and Jones' chances of unseating him as #2 back. Helu is slotted into that #3/3rdrb spot. I don't see any more movement without injury.

Think it will be interesting to watch the Moore and Smith battle at Will. I think Moore would have the spot if 100% but I expect them to be bringing him along slowly. Whether that gets better is a mystery. Armstrong will be the LB to see the field the least of the starters due to Mack working on the line and then popping out to backer at times.

Overall I love the depth and quality choices we have this year.

I dont think Sio has that great a shot of being the Will unless he shows out in preseason. You can't miss that many tackles and stay in the glamour spot at LB. If he stays healthy and shows out, position is his. Ultimately I think the job is Smith's to lose, being that Norton knows him better and he has less missed tackles in 4 years (and twice as many snaps) as Sio did last year.

Don't sell short on Lee.. JDR has had a big time + blocker at TE the entire time he was HC in JAX. I dont think he had much of a say in Denver (Julius). But we gave Lee big money for a TE, I expect him to get a lot of reps, especially in the redzone. The guy is 10-15 lbs from being a tackle.

I don't doubt that Lee will play tons of snaps but it will be in mostly heavy, goalline and double TE sets. He won't start. I assume your talking about Kyle Brady. He was barely used in 03-07. They drafted Wrighter in 03 and Marcedes Lewis in 07 who both played more. Also this isn't JDR offense, it's Musgraves.

If we can get thru camp and the first few preseason games with no injuries, I'd look at teams looking for a TE. If we can get a 5th to 3rd rd pick for Rivera then pull the trigger. I think Holmes and Leonhardt are capable of filling the 3rd TE spot and are closer to the complete TE then RIvera, who is a pass catching guy for the most part.

Yeah like I said it will be interesting to watch the Moore and Smith battle at Will. Even with the missed tackles in the past, Moore has a good chance of still beating out Smith for the spot. It's his to lose if he is healthy. If he has lost the explosion that made him special then and we go the pedestrian Smith til we can draft a stud next yr or in 17.

[FNQ]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/caplannfl/status/631133500926726144[/tweet]

[benchmobbin02]

Walford almost healthy. Coming for that #1 spot!

[FNQ]

Summarizing the tweets today:

- Walford, Menelik return. Both run with the 1's. Tafur mentions that he's unsure who's official TE1 because Smith was out today

- Sio out again

- Hayden got tooled by Amari, again

- Heeney with an INT today, he's killing it

- Bergstrom, Mady, Feliciano all in running for backup C. Bergstrom the favorite. Mady snapped one over McGloin's head

- Seth Roberts is getting run with our #1s in 3WR sets

- Tevin McDonald ran with the 2s at FS today. (must be a rotation, seeing as Dowling and Ross all have so far)

- Walford made some big catches today from Carr

- Neiron Ball w/a sack, Neiko Thorpe w a FF on Dyer

- Kris Durham reportedly impressing with his gargantuan size


So our WR are showing out so far in camp.. pretty much all of them are getting love with the exception of Harper, Butler, and Thompkins (and Streater). I wonder what's keeping Streets out for so long?

[benchmobbin02]

Streater probably has the same pneumonia T.Rich had. Has missed about the same amount of time and is losing weight. Thompkins HAS been impressing in camp and getting love. Talk of him, Holmes and Roberts all getting 1st team reps. I'm disappointed that Harper and especially Butler aren't standing out at WR. I thought they had the most up side with Carr. We'll see in the preseason games who separates themselves.

Since Ford couldn't stay healthy and got bounced in 2013, we have been trying to fill the slot spot. Had Vincent Brown last yr and Roberts is filling that role this year. We'll see if he lasts.

[FNQ]

Streater probably has the same pneumonia T.Rich had. Has missed about the same amount of time and is losing weight. Thompkins HAS been impressing in camp and getting love. Talk of him, Holmes and Roberts all getting 1st team reps. I'm disappointed that Harper and especially Butler aren't standing out at WR. I thought they had the most up side with Carr. We'll see in the preseason games who separates themselves.

Since Ford couldn't stay healthy and got bounced in 2013, we have been trying to fill the slot spot. Had Vincent Brown last yr and Roberts is filling that role this year. We'll see if he lasts.

With Holmes showing out as well as he has (at least via tweets) it stands to reason that he could be on the outside in 3WR sets and Cooper could kick inside.. While Roberts is getting run there now, I still think he's a longshot to make the roster. We have 4 WR essentially competing for one spot unless Streater is PUPd or short term IR'd.

[Quake Griffin]

Looks like Streater is back at practice

[benchmobbin02]

Streater probably has the same pneumonia T.Rich had. Has missed about the same amount of time and is losing weight. Thompkins HAS been impressing in camp and getting love. Talk of him, Holmes and Roberts all getting 1st team reps. I'm disappointed that Harper and especially Butler aren't standing out at WR. I thought they had the most up side with Carr. We'll see in the preseason games who separates themselves.

Since Ford couldn't stay healthy and got bounced in 2013, we have been trying to fill the slot spot. Had Vincent Brown last yr and Roberts is filling that role this year. We'll see if he lasts.

With Holmes showing out as well as he has (at least via tweets) it stands to reason that he could be on the outside in 3WR sets and Cooper could kick inside.. While Roberts is getting run there now, I still think he's a longshot to make the roster. We have 4 WR essentially competing for one spot unless Streater is PUPd or short term IR'd.

I agree, I suggested Cooper play the slot earlier and Streater man the outside on 3wr sets (before he miss all of camp so far). How many WR do you think we are keeping?

Last yr we had 6 on the roster and with this group I think that could be feasible this year too. I have Cooper and Crab in for sure. Streater has a solid pair of weeks in camp and proves he is strong again and he gets in on talent. That would be 3. I have Holiday making the roster as a specialist. That's 4. So Holmes, Roberts, Butler, Durham and Harper are fighting for 2 spots. I think you're right that it will be hard for Roberts to make the active over Holmes and Butler unless one of them screws up. Harper and Roberts probably both make the practice squad and Durham gets the axe as of now but there is plenty of time and reps to change that.

[Quake Griffin]

What's this Devon Wylie signing about?