Oakland Raiders: 4 UDFA’s Who Could Make The 53-Man Roster
By Kevin Saito
Jul 28, 2014; Napa, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders players join hands in a huddle at training camp at Napa Valley Marriott. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Raiders have wrapped up a draft that was by most accounts, a successful one. But rather than sitting back and resting on their laurels for having upgraded and added depth at some key spots on the roster, Reggie McKenzie and Jack Del Rio are keeping themselves busy by tweaking and fine tuning the team.
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That tweaking and fine tuning includes releasing some players who, after the draft, were deemed expendable – James Jones, Nick Kasa, and Kevin Boothe, among others. Aside from trimming the fat on the roster though, the Raiders are bringing in players from that huge pool of players who did not hear their name called during the festivities in Chicago.
Immediately following the draft, teams are burning up the phone lines to bring in players whom they’ve done their homework on, and believe have some upside and can help the team. The UDFA signing period that starts almost immediately after the announcement of Mr. Irrelevant makes a great white shark feeding frenzy look like a calm and civilized affair by comparison.
Though Oakland drafted ten new faces and in doing so, upgrade the roster and provided some valuable depth, they still had a few holes that needed to be plugged. The Raiders could still use some help in the pass rush department, and they most definitely need some help adding depth to a cornerbacks group that is woefully thin.
They’ve partially addressed those concerns with some of their reported UDFA signings, but they’re definitely not sure things.
UDFA’s are a long shot to make the roster to begin with. Most are brought in as camp bodies and to be given an audition for the practice squad. But McKenzie has shown that he’s not afraid to roll the dice on a player who has some talent, but couldn’t quite make it high enough onto anybody’s draft board to warrant a selection – Rod Streater was one such player. And he’s turned out pretty well.
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Though the team hasn’t officially announced the signings of these UDFA’s at this point, based on media reports, as well as their personal Twitter feeds, Oakland has brought in a number of rookie free agents – fifteen and counting to this point.
Realistically speaking though, the number of rookie free agents who actually make the final 53-man roster will be much smaller than that. It’s an uphill battle for these players to make a team from the start. Some do well enough to catch the attention of the coaches, but most won’t.
These athletes are going to be giving it their all – and then some – in the hope of catching the eye of the coaching staff, and showing that they deserve a spot on the roster. And based on Oakland’s current positional needs, it is possible that Oakland will add a few of these undrafted players to bolster some key spots.
It’s about the furthest thing from a guarantee you could have, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility, either.
Based on Oakland’s needs, here are four players who could make enough noise during training camp to warrant a spot on the 53-man roster.
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