Blistering In From Sea.

[Soapy]

Raiders sign twenty-six free agents to finalize roster ahead of training camp
The Las Vegas Raiders have finalized their training camp roster by signing twenty-six free agents, including nineteen undrafted free agents as camp will begin next week.

The signings included quarterback Jaren Hall, UDFA running backs Lenny Evans (USF) and Ross Terry (West Virginia), UDFA receiver Ricky Dockery (USC), UDFA tight ends Josh Clifford (Clemson) and Gill Shipp (Utah State), UDFA offensive tackles Will Wilbur (Texas A&M), Quincy Westerman (Arizona State), John Boss (Kansas State) and Tommy Fitzsimmons (Michigan), UDFA offensive guard Perry Etienne (Auburn) and veteran offensive guard Solomon Kindley who was with the team last season, UDFA centers Bryan Boren (Clemson) and Lance Ritchie (Baylor), interior defensive linemen Malcom Brown, Tyler Shelvin and UDFAs Rahim Lloyd (Georgia), Kameron McCray (UCF), Courtland Ferrell (Oklahoma) and Nate Spence (Stanford), inside linebacker Micah McFadden, UDFA linebackers Tavon Robinson (Ole Miss), Alexander McDonald (Wisconsin), Chase Crompton (South Carolina) and safeties Jalen Mills and Jayron Kearse.

While they are mostly camp bodies for the most part, some players have an outside shot at making the final 53-man roster, particularly the veteran safeties Mills and Kearse who have the opportunity to potentially even start as the team looks to replace Marcus Epps. Decorian Patterson finished the season at strong safety but is ideally more suited for a free safety or nickel role given his frame.

A few housekeeping items as Raiders submit official training camp roster
As first spotted at OTAs in the spring, quarterback Justin Fields is officially changing his number from No. 7 to No. 1 following the departure of Marcus Epps who previously wore the number. Fields wore the No. 1 at Georgia, Ohio State and with the Chicago Bears prior to being traded to the Raiders last season.

He's not only returning player that's changing number as Aidan O'Connell is going to his college number of No. 16 as well, freeing up Mario Williams to wear the No. 4 which he wore at USC and Oklahoma, allowing the newly acquired DeAndre Hopkins to wear Williams' old No. 10.

As expected, Travis Hunter is taking over the No. 12 jersey from Laviska Shenault Jr. who is now sporting the No. 5.

David Shaw sees a potential playoff contender in his Raiders
In his first couple of public appearances since being named head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, the 'rookie' NFL head coach has not been shy about praising the talent that he sees on the roster on the heels of the team's OTAs and spring workouts.

"I think we've got a really talented team," Shaw told the media after the team's final organized team activity back in May, "We've got all of the pieces to be a team that's playing well into January and we just have to do the little things and the rest will take care of itself."

The Raiders new regime will open the preseason in two weeks against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

[KimJongBaze]

A lot to catch up on.

Firstly, David Shaw signing is pure class. Hope he follows Jim Harbaugh's legacy and has a successful NFL coaching career.

Second, trading up for Travis Hunter absolutely worth it imo. Secondary needs all the help it can get. Loving the focus on defense through the first half of the draft.

Thirdly, get Jalen Mills off this team and keep Jayron Kearse . I don't know how well Kearse can cover but I can see him playing at LB in some of those more DB heavy packages

[Soapy]

Interested the most about Jacobs. Sounds like he can really make an impact in those pass coverage packages

from last preseason......baze knows ball.

[Soapy]

A lot to catch up on.

Firstly, David Shaw signing is pure class. Hope he follows Jim Harbaugh's legacy and has a successful NFL coaching career.

Second, trading up for Travis Hunter absolutely worth it imo. Secondary needs all the help it can get. Loving the focus on defense through the first half of the draft.

Thirdly, get Jalen Mills off this team and keep Jayron Kearse . I don't know how well Kearse can cover but I can see him playing at LB in some of those more DB heavy packages

Always been a fan of Shaw at Stanford. I didn't even realize that there are legit rumors of him being the next Raiders head coach until I went to search for pictures of him as a Raiders assistant.

I wondered if I gave up too much but after going through 'mini camp' with him, son is a star. he catches everything thrown at him. might need to user him and get 10 INTS

Jalen Mills is actually the highest rated zone coverage safety available in free agency lmao so yeah, him and kearse might end up actually playing as crazy as that sounds. swinging and missing on honey badge was tough

[Soapy]

A rematch from the end of last season, Tampa offers the perfect measuring test for the new-look Raiders
David Shaw will coach his first game in nearly three years when the Raiders host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tomorrow in the preseason debut for Shaw, his staff and a new-look Raiders team that is anxious to make it back to the playoffs.

The Raiders played the Bucs last season, soundly taking care of them in a 24-14 victory in one of the few bright spots at the end of the year prior to the Raiders three-game losing streak. The Bucs fired their coaching staff as well with Todd Bowles giving way to Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken who was hired to be the Bucs next head coach.

In a matchup between two rookie head coaches, expect plenty of excitement from both fans despite the preseason atmosphere.

Rasul Douglas hopes to put tough week behind him as young corners nip at his heels
Full of piss and vinegar, second-year receiver Tory Horton and rookie receiver Ricardo Campbell gave veteran cornerback Rasul Douglas fits in both one-on-one drills, competitive 7-on-7 periods and even live scrimmages where the free agency signing struggled to keep up with the suddenness of Horton when matched up against the first-team offense and against the backups, he had no answers for Campbell's speed which few corners do.

Douglas is expected to get the start against Tampa and will get a chance to go up against a slower but a tougher matchup in Mike Evans. While it's just one week of practice, it doesn't bode well for Douglas that rookie cornerbacks Travis Hunter and Davison Igbinosun were outstanding throughout the week with Hunter recording at least seven interceptions between the different periods.

A big body receiver like Evans is exactly who Douglas was brought in to cover as outside of Jeff Okudah, none of the Raiders' other corners weigh over 200 pounds with Douglas being the heaviest at 209 pounds and tied for the tallest six-foot-two.

'The Little Lenny That Could' has the perfect opportunity to make case for the roster
Shaw has hinted towards several players, Laviska Shenault Jr. and DeAndre Hopkins chief among them, as veterans that had a heavy workload throughout the week and could be looking at a rest day when the team plays the Buccaneers.

If that's the case, it could mean more opportunities for undrafted free agent Lenny Evans out of USF whose personality -- often highlighted on the team's social media -- has made him an early fan favorite.

It's Evans' quick burst at a tank-like five-foot-eight- and 215-pounds frame that has earned him the nickname 'The Little Engine That Could' among teammates and the coaching staff. He'll likely be among the reserves behind Miyan Williams and Zamir White that play in the second half and could make a strong impression which would go a long way.

Evans has outplayed fifth round pick Tommy Sutton throughout training camp thus far, putting himself in a good position to overtake Sutton for that fourth running back spot.

Shaw leaning on experience with Andrew Luck to handle Travis Hunter craze
David Shaw is no stranger to being trusted with a once-in-a-lifetime prospect having coached Andrew Luck at Stanford when Luck was widely considered to be a generational quarterback talent.

Shaw isn't shying away from the fact that there will be a ton of attention on the play of rookie cornerback Travis Hunter who the team traded away several draft picks for, including three first round picks.

"I think it's important to always remember they're at a developmental stage," Shaw said of the team's rookies, "In a lot of ways, they are still learning how to play football and adjusting to the speed of the game and getting rid of bad habits that they've built. The good young players show you those flashes and the great ones are able to do it consistently but no matter what, they're going to make mistakes and that's part of the game."

"Even Andrew [Luck] made mistakes as a young player and that was part of his development. You can't skip that step."

Shaw added that Hunter will focus sole at corner this year and he won't be utilized much on special teams or offense throughout the preseason.

[KimJongBaze]

Interested the most about Jacobs. Sounds like he can really make an impact in those pass coverage packages

from last preseason......baze knows ball.

#scouting

[Soapy]

Raiders dominate Buccaneers in preseason as rookies steal the show
Raiders head coach David Shaw's preseason debut couldn't have gone much better with Justin Fields and the first team offense scoring on their first possessions and three rookies reached the endzone in the Raiders 31-20 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It was a packed Allegiant Stadium who watched the city's fifth head coach since the franchise relocated to Las Vegas. Fields and the rest of the starting offense played two drives with Fields who nearly hooked up with free agent addition DeAndre Hopkins for an early touchdown but overthrew him. Fields would go on to score on an RPO play, which was generously peppered throughout the game in Pep Hamilton's debut as the Raiders offensive play caller.

First overall pick Travis Hunter played the entire game and was not targeted whilst in man coverage, finishing with four tackles. The star of the night, however, was another rookie in undrafted running back Lenny Evans who rushed for 127 yards, averaging seven yards per carry.

The Buccaneers had some success in the running game as well, rushing for 173 yards with both Brandon Robinson and Rachaad White causing some issues for the Raiders first team defense which played the entire first quarter. Quinn Ewers was held in check, going 5 of 9 for just 38 yards with Kirk Cousins taking over for the rest of the game and throwing 36 passes, completing 24 of them for 203 yards and a touchdown.

The Raiders rookies put on a show
Outside of the aforementioned Hunter and Evans, plenty of other rookies had standout performances as well including Ricardo Campbell who grabbed a team-high ten receptions for 73 yards, bouncing back from an early drop in the endzone.

The play after Campbell's drop was a touchdown pass to James Duff, who exclusively played tight end as the Raiders did not utilize a fullback in the game. Rookie tight end Brian McBride was probably the second best offensive player, catching eight passes for 89 yards with a nifty 22-yard touchdown on an RPO and would have had another long touchdown as he was wide open on a wheel route but Jaren Hall did not get the ball to him.

Dasan McCullough led the team in tackles and tackles for loss with 12 tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack as he played everywhere from EDGE, JACK linebacker and even some inside linebacker snaps towards the end of the game. He's athletic and a forceful athlete, showing shades of a bigger Curtis Jacobs who dominated in a similar fashion last preseason.

Davison Igbinosun surrendered a 22-yard completion in the second quarter but outside of that, he was just as good as Hunter, finishing the game with six tackles and nearly blocked a field goal in the first quarter.

The defensive line has the potential to be elite
Even without nose tackle Michael Pierce (more on that later), the Raiders showed signs of being a dominant defensive front, especially in the pass rushing department. There were a few snaps where Tyleik Wiliams, Derrick Brown and Maxx Crosby all beat their one-on-one blockers and were in a race to the quarterback.

If you throw in Tyree Wilson and/or Matthew Judon in the mix, how exactly are offenses going to block this front?

They'll need to be more disciplined against the run as they weren't the greatest in that area against Tampa but in just the limited snaps that they played together, you can see the vision for this defense which should be much improved.

Injury News
Veteran defensive tackle Michael Pierce went through warm-ups and appeared to have suffered or reaggravated a lower body injury as several members of the training staff came to check him out and he went back to the locker room early and wasn't dressed for the game. Shaw seemed to indicate after the game that it was a precautionary measure that he doesn't expect Pierce to miss any significant time.

Throughout the game, rookie receiver Chris Marshall seemed to be dealing with a chest-area injury that was causing him to leave the game sporadically. Shaw said after the game that it wasn't anything serious, as was the case with Michael Mayer's shoulder injury on the first drive which caused him to miss the rest of the game.

Shaw did confirm that running back Tommy Sutton ruptured his disk and will likely be out for the rest of the preseason, making him a candidate to land on the IR.

[Agent]

[Soapy]

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[Soapy]

Raiders add former Seahawks draft pick Kenny McIntosh following release of draft pick
The Las Vegas Raiders have signed running back Kenny McIntosh and released sixth round pick Tommy Sutton with an injury designation.

Sutton was the 171st overall selection in this past draft but suffered a disk injury in the preseason opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Prior to the injury, Sutton had fell behind undrafted free agent Lenny Evans who had a standout performance against the Bucs, rushing for over 100 yards.

McIntosh was drafted in the seventh round by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2023 NFL Draft and after spending his rookie season on their practice squad, he appeared in four games last season, playing 132 snaps and carrying the ball 32 times for 77 yards. He also had eight catches for 53 yards, adding to his reputation as a solid pass catcher out of the backfield. The former Georgia Bulldog caught 76 passes in his four years in Athens, an aspect of his game that keeps him in the running to make the final 53-man roster despite the late addition to the roster.