Oakland Raiders: Most Surprising Moves On Cut Down Day

Aug 22, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Trindon Holliday (16) fields a kick in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Oakland Raiders 20-12. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Dumped All Return Men

Oakland has had a number of different people back fielding kicks for the team. Devon Wylie, Austin Willis, Kris Durham, George Atkinson III, and Trindon Holliday, among others, have all taken turns fielding punts and kickoffs over the summer.

Apparently, none of them have been good enough to stick as the team just parted ways with Wylie.

That seems to leave Taiwan Jones to field kickoffs and Travis Carrie in position to take the punts and help lead the Raiders’ special teams.

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While Jones will be great taking the kickoffs, the Raiders would be wise to find somebody on their roster – somebody not named Amari Cooper – to handle punt duties. The simple fact is that cornerback is the thinnest position on the Raiders’ roster – and who they’ve decided to keep on the roster, as well as the decision not to pursue somebody better, is less than inspiring.

Carrie is the steadiest and most reliable of Oakland’s corners at this point. Simply put, they need him to stay healthy. Letting him stand back and take the shots that often accompany fielding punts is going to expose him to a lot of risk. And the Raiders absolutely cannot afford to put him in harm’s way and further weaken what is already a very weak cornerbacks group.

Oakland should have kept somebody like Willis or Wylie to handle punt return duties. They could have played a lot on special teams, in fact, and given the desire of both men to play, they likely would have done a better than average job of it.

This could be a big tactical error on Del Rio’s part.

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