Projecting the Raiders’ 53-man roster

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Friday, Sept. 4, 2020 | 2 a.m.

Saturday is cut-down day, when the Raiders will have to narrow their roster to the 53 players they intend to take into their Week 1 matchup against Carolina, and Jon Gruden’s philosophy toward building the roster is simple.

When asked about his cornerback group in the wake of releasing veteran Prince Amukamara, the coach gave an answer that covers just about everything.

“Keeping the best guys is all we’re doing,” Gruden said. “We’re going to keep the best players and try to continue to develop them.”

With that guiding principle, let’s run through the roster and try to project Las Vegas’ 53-man allotment.

(And for the sake of fun, let’s also look back at my colleague Case Keefer’s first 53-man projection, which was done immediately following the draft but still holds up reasonably well.)

QUARTERBACKS (3): Derek Carr, Marcus Mariota, Nathan Peterman

Carr calmed some nerves around the franchise by playing well enough in camp to extinguish any talk of a quarterback controversy before it got started. Mariota, by the virtue of his high salary and not necessarily his performance in camp, will be the No. 2 QB. Some teams only carry two passers, but with COVID-19 complicating things the safe play would seem to be three quarterbacks. Peterson gets the last spot.

Case’s early projection: Carr, Mariota, DeShone Kizer. Kizer didn’t last long. There must be something about Peterson that Jon Gruden finds endearing.

RUNNING BACKS (4): Josh Jacobs, Jalen Richard, Lynn Bowden, Alec Ingold

Jacobs is a stud and should handle the vast majority of the workload on first and second down. Richard and Bowden are pass-catchers at this point, and Ingold is a fullback. If there’s one thing this group is missing it’s a hard-charging power back for short-yardage situations, but Ingold can theoretically lead the way in heavy formations.

Case’s early projection: Jacobs, Richard, Bowden, Ingold. Nailed it. Maybe I can take the rest of the night off…

WIDE RECEIVERS (5): Henry Ruggs, Hunter Renfrow, Bryan Edwards, Nelson Agholor, Zay Jones

The Raiders probably would have carried six receivers if Tyrell Williams hadn’t gone on injured reserve, but he did and now the team is a bit short-handed at the position. I don’t think there was another wideout in camp who could step up into the sixth spot, so I project the Raiders to roll with five WRs to start the year. Agholor and Jones are now key pieces.

Case’s early projection: Williams, Ruggs, Renfrow, Edwards, Agholor, Jones. This is likely dead on if Williams had made it through the summer healthy.

TIGHT ENDS (4): Darren Waller, Foster Moreau, Jason Witten, Derek Carrier

Carrier wouldn’t have made the imaginary cut a week ago, but with Williams situation trimming the number of receivers on the roster Gruden now gets to carry a fourth tight end. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s four tight ends and a fullback on a 2020 roster.

Case’s early projection: Waller, Witten, Moreau. This could still end up being the way things shake out on Saturday. The skill sets of Waller, Witten and Moreau are varied enough that they could handle just about every conceivable situation.

OFFENSIVE LINEMEN (10): Rodney Hudson, Gabe Jackson, Richie Incognito, Kolton Miller, Trent Brown, Denzelle Good, Sam Young, John Simpson, Brandon Parker, Andre James

The top five are locked in, and Simpson was a fourth-round draft pick so his spot is secure. Good gives the team a veteran guard, and Parker is still developing on the outside. One point of concern is Brown’s absence for most of camp; if he’s unable to get up to speed in time for Week 1, Young would probably get the call to step in at right tackle. Hudson has played 100 percent of the team’s offensive snaps in three of the last four seasons, but James has shown enough to warrant a spot as the backup center.

Case’s early projection: Hudson, Jackson, Incognito, Miller, Brown, Jordan Devey, Eric Kush, Simpson, Good, David Sharpe. The second-string picture has changed since the draft. Devey was released this week, Sharpe was traded to Washington for a late-round pick and Young was a relatively late addition.

DEFENSIVE LINEMEN (8): Clelin Ferrell, Maxx Crosby, Arden Key, Carl Nassib, Maliek Collins, Johnathan Hankins, Daniel Ross, Maurice Hurst

Ferrell and Crosby will start on the outside and Collins will line up as the three-technique DT. The other tackle spot will probably end up being a rotation depending on the situation. Key showed out during training camp, so it will be interesting to see if he can carry it over to the regular season.

Case’s early projection: Ferrell, Crosby, Nassib, Key, Collins, Hankins, Hurst, Ross, P.J. Hall. Hall didn’t make it through camp, but the rest of the eight remain the same.

LINEBACKERS (6): Nick Kwiatkoski, Cory Littleton, Raekwon McMillan, Nicholas Morrow, Javin White, Tanner Muse

McMillan gives the team a third starting-caliber linebacker, but only in run situations. Morrow makes the team as a sub-package LB, with undrafted White pushing him for playing time. Muse is a linebacker in name only, as he’ll see most of his snaps on special teams.

Case’s early projection: Kwiatkoski, Littleton, Morrow, Muse, Marquel Lee. White was the biggest riser during training camp, so it’s understandable that Case left him off of the early 53-man roster.

CORNERBACKS (6): Trayvon Mullen, Damon Arnette, Lamarcus Joyner, Amik Robertson, Isaiah Johnson, Keisean Nixon

This position group is an indication of the franchise’s youth movement. Arnette and Robertson are rookies, while Mullen, Johnson and Nixon are second-year players. Joyner is the only certified veteran in the room. Nevin Lawson is serving a suspension in Week 1 but he’s another experienced hand.

Case’s early projection: Mullen, Arnette, Joyner, Robertson, Nixon, Lawson. As mentioned, Lawson will be eligible to rejoin the team in Week 2, so this could end up being the true composition at cornerback.

SAFETIES (4): Johnathan Abram, Damarious Randall, Jeff Heath, Erik Harris

One of the most spoken-for position groups, this has looked like the foursome throughout the entire offseason. The team is expecting big things from Abram, while Randall, Heath and Harris should combine to provide steady play on the back end. Probably the only way this changes is if Gruden moves Lamarcus Joyner to safety.

Case’s early projection: Abram, Randall, Heath, Harris. No fuss, no muss.

SPECIAL TEAMS (3): Daniel Carlson (kicker), A.J. Cole (punter), Trent Sieg (long snapper)

Carlson hasn’t been rock-solid during his time with the Raiders, but if there’s a last-second kick to win the game in Week 1 he’ll be the one lining it up.

Case’s early projection: Dominik Eberle (kicker), Cole, Sieg. Eberle was an interesting undrafted free agent, but he ended up being one of the first camp cuts.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.