Mailbag: Should Raiders fans be concerned about the cornerback situation?
Jack Jones
The Las Vegas Raiders wrapped up their offseason program as mandatory minicamp came to a close this week. The Raiders are about to have a quick summer break and then it’s training camp time as the 2024 regular season is creeping closer and closer. But, before all of that, let’s dive into this week’s mailbag.
AAAA54 Jack Jones has missed a lot of games due to injuries and suspensions. Should Raider Nation be concerned with the lack of availabilty their only starting caliber outisde safety has shown throughout his career in both college and NFL? Thanks!
Answer: Those who have followed my mailbag column closely over the offseason know I’ve been pounding the table for the Raiders to sign a corner. While my rationale has focused on the lack of top-end talent and depth at the position, Jack Jones’ availability is another reason why.
For one reason or another, Jones has missed nine games during his two NFL seasons and he’s the defense’s unquestioned top cornerback right now. So, in my opinion, that position is concerning in its current state. The defense has a lot of talent and a good coordinator, but the cornerback situation looks like it will be their Achilles heel at the moment.
KansasRaider How is Laube looking/performing so far? Know we don't have a large sample size, but have seen his name being tossed around a bit as being eye-opening.
A: I know I’ve mentioned this before but to reiterate, I’m not in Las Vegas for the practices. That being said, the Raiders digital team reporter Levi Edwards noted that Dylan Laube has been looking sharp and drawing good reviews from the coaching staff so far.
“Dylan Laube, a sixth-round pick from New Hampshire, is using his versatility to the fullest,” Edwards wrote. “Along with racking up yards after catch from the backfield, he’s received quite a few reps in kickoff return. “I think he has a bright future,” said Cadillac Williams, running backs coach. “He’s wise beyond his years. He shows up like a vet. ... He can take what he learns from the classroom and apply it on the field. He’s always going to be in the right spots. Got really good hands, quick, explosive. Just a very cerebral player that can do a lot of things.”’
Also, Laube has reportedly been getting some reps with the first team, and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy spoke highly of him during the team’s media day.
RaiderG Marcus' breakdown of Guyton was pretty harsh and gave the sense he has lost his burst and won't make the team. Did he look any better in OTAs?
A: I haven’t heard much about Jalen Guyton at OTAs or minicamp which isn’t a good sign. Coaches and the media typically like to talk about guys who are playing well this time of year, so no news is probably bad news. I would hold off on buying a Guyton Raiders jersey...
Desair711 Does Tyree look any better at all or is on the road to Bustville?
A: Defensive line coach Rob Leonard spoke highly of Tyree Wilson the other day and talked about how Wilson can lean on teammates Maxx Crosby and Christian Wilkins to help push through some struggles to begin his career.
Leonard also can be a good resource for the No. 7 overall pick as he dealt with a somewhat similar situation in Miami with Jaelan Phillips who was a first-round pick that took a bit to find his groove in the NFL. Granted, Phillips' rookie year was much better than Wilson’s.
According to A to Z Sports’ Justin Churchill, the Texas Tech product showed signs of improvement during minicamp.
“His strength has increased significantly,” Churchill wrote about Wilson. “You can tell by the way he looks, as he looks in much better shape and is cut and toned much better. Even in simple drills like hitting the sled and hitting a bag, Wilson looks much quicker on his get-off, and he looks so much stronger with a much better and more fluid movement.”
Granted, the team doesn’t put the pads on until training camp, so it’s hard to evaluate any defensive lineman in either direction, good or bad, at this stage in the game.
I know everyone wants immediate results from a top-10 pick, but let’s give Wilson at least one full season where he’s fully healthy before throwing the bust label around.
TreDeLA Since the start of OTAs there's been attention on Mayer getting in better shape and looking more explosive. There's been a ton of talk about Bowers. Davante is obviously Davante. Then AP gave glowing reports on both Tucker and Jakobi today. SO with that information how do the targets get spread around? What is the probable and/or ideal pecking order for touches to really make the offense click.
A: I think Davante Adams will still lead the team in targets because he’s still the best receiver on the team and Luke Getsy knows how to get Adams the ball, and knows his skillset well dating back to their days together with the Green Bay Packers.
To me, second is a toss-up between Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers, but I’d lean toward Meyers since he has more experience and some familiarity with Aidan O’Connell (if O’Connell wins the job).
Michael Mayer would be fourth in total targets but will probably be the offense’s best red-zone target. Tre Tucker probably won’t see a large volume of passes thrown his way as he’s the deep threat on the team, but Tucker can still make an impact as the big play threat.
So, to summarize:
- Adams
- Meyers
- Bowers
- Mayer
- Tucker
Someone bookmark this and bring it up at the end of the season because I’ll be interested to see how close I get. I’d do it but I have no confidence in myself to remember to circle back and you guys are better at holding me accountable anyway! Lol.
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 [email protected] or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.