Oakland Raiders Versus The AFC West: Wide Receivers
By Kevin Saito
May 8, 2015; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders receiver Milton Williams III(17) catches a pass at rookie minicamp at the Raiders practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Raiders have been successful through the offseason OTA’s and minicamp work. Successful from the point of view that they suffered no major injuries, are healthy for the most part, and according to HC Jack Del Rio and the coaching staff, have done a terrific job of learning the new system and schemes.
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Though the offseason work has been extremely limited, there are some good signs. Derek Carr‘s finger injury, the one that had everybody freaking out, seems to be right as rain again, and though a bit rusty at times, he was throwing the ball again with some real zip to it. Rookie wideout Amari Cooper looks to be everything he was billed to be – and more. Second year beast Khalil Mack is larger and looks ready to wreak some havoc in the opposing backfields.
There have been some surprises, such as Ray Ray Armstrong making a strong push for playing time, as well as Keith McGill getting first team reps over D.J. Hayden. There appear to be a number of terrific camp battles shaping up – will it be Khalif Barnes or Jon Feliciano at guard? Will Menelik Watson or Austin Howard snag the starting tackle spot? Will Mychal Rivera or Clive Walford be with the starting unit when the season opens?
These are but a few of the intriguing questions we’ll have to wait for the answers to. But while there is still much work to do and much to learn, the Raiders seem to be in good spirits, and in good shape as they have some off time before the start of training camp at some point in July.
Among some of the bigger questions though – and since we’re in a dead period and have the time to kick it around – is how do the new-look Raiders stack up against their AFC West rivals?
In this series, we’ll take a look at the positional breakdown and see how the Raiders potentially stack up against their division opponents. In this piece, we’ll take a look at the wide receiver position.
Next: Number Four