Raiders’ rookies arrive at training camp lightly regarded but highly capable

By Case Keefer (contact)

Monday, July 18, 2022 | 2 a.m.

The Raiders’ rookies report to training camp this morning, and it’s unlikely there will be anyone standing outside the gates of the team’s Henderson headquarters hoping to catch a glimpse of them arriving.

This year’s active class of 18 youthful newcomers — consisting of six players taken in April’s NFL Draft and 12 signed afterwards in undrafted free agent deals — is relatively light on fanfare and notoriety. For the first time in 10 years, the Raiders had neither a first- nor a second-round pick in the draft as a result of trading both selections for star receiver Davante Adams.

But that doesn’t preclude the rookies from making an impact on the upcoming season, which starts on Sunday Sept. 11 at the Los Angeles Chargers. In his post-draft news conference, new general manager Dave Ziegler, with coach Josh McDaniels sitting by his side, vowed the 90 players invited to training camp would have a fair shot at making the final 53-man roster.

“We want to build depth in competition,” Ziegler said. “That’s going to be a very important part of this program.”

Despite the Raiders now having a veteran-laden roster at the top, opportunities abound for the rookies to get on the field. Ziegler said he didn’t approach his first draft selecting players for positional needs, and rather took the best available on the board.

If that’s true, then it was a stroke of good luck that almost everyone taken fit with where the Raiders could use help. Offensive line remains the team’s weakest group on paper, and the Raiders used their highest pick on Memphis’ Dylan Parham in the third round.

Parham has played guard, center and tackle and could conceivably push all incumbent starters aside from left tackle Kolton Miller for playing time — though the Raiders initially plan to use him more at the two interior spots. Las Vegas then used one of its two seventh round picks on Ohio State tackle Thayer Munford, who has similar versatility to Parham and was rated much higher than where he was taken by some draft experts.

New offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo, who came over with McDaniels and Ziegler from the Patriots, doesn’t plan to ease anyone into action. He compared his practice expectations for the rookies to throwing his six-month old daughter into a pool to learn how to swim during last month’s minicamp.

“If you’re going to teach them to just go slowly then they’re just going to plateau,” Bricillo said. “Like, go with a shock system and let’s get after, see what they can assimilate now.”

Interior defensive line is another area where the Raiders double-dipped in the draft looking for a fresh infusion of talent. Neil Farrell, a fourth-round pick out of LSU, and Matthew Butler, a fifth-rounder from Tennessee, will likely have a hard time unseating proven NFL starters Johnathan Hankins and Bilal Nichols but could otherwise force their way into the rotation.

They both had strong senior seasons a year ago, which Ziegler said helped convince him they could compete for a role on the field immediately.

“That’s kind of the thing that drives the NFL,” defensive line coach Frank Okam said. “You’ve got to earn the right to have your job when the regular season starts.”

The surest bet to see significant action among the rookies this season is fourth-round running back Zamir White out of Georgia. As the leading rusher on last year’s College Football Playoff champions, White came into the draft more well-known than most of the 121 players taken in front of him.

He looks on pace to keep that on track at the professional level, where Ziegler and McDaniels appear to view him as the Raiders’ running back of the future. Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake, holdovers from the previous staff, may get a larger workload this season but they both have only one year remaining on their contracts.

“He’s going to bring some skills into that running back room and I know he’s going to compete his butt off and try to earn whatever role he can,” McDaniels said of White after the draft.

The Raiders’ final draft pick, UCLA running back Brittain Brown, might be hard-pressed to find a role on offense from Day 1 but could earn a spot via special teams contributions. Undrafted free agents are tougher to predict, and almost always a longshot to make the initial roster, but the Raiders have at least a handful with clear promise.

Linebacker Darien Butler, for instance, has spent the last four years with new linebackers coach Antonio Pierce at Arizona State and plays with a ferocious style not unlike the one employed by current Raider Pro Bowler Denzel Perryman. Notre Dame edge rusher Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa signed a larger-than-average free agent deal to come to Las Vegas according to Pro Football Focus. A handful of defensive backs including USC safety Isaiah Pola-Malo and Ball State cornerback Bryce Cosby are part of a defensive backs group with plenty of undefined roles.

McDaniels described the competition in the secondary as open with everyone pushing to prove themselves during minicamp, but he could have just easily been talking about his and Ziegler’s philosophy across the whole roster.

“I love the way they work and I’m eager to watch them continue to develop and grow and then go into training camp and let them just battle it out and compete,” he said. “However it turns out, they'll be the ones who determine that.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or