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Oakland Raiders: Five Camp Battles That Will Be Worth Watching

By Kevin Saito

Feb 16, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of Oakland Raiders helmet at McArthur Park with the downtown Los Angeles skyline as a backdrop. NFL owners voted 30-2 to allow owner Rams Stan Kroenke (not pictured) to move the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles for the 2016 season with an option also award to Raiders owner Mark Davis (not pictured). Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 16, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; General view of Oakland Raiders helmet at McArthur Park with the downtown Los Angeles skyline as a backdrop. NFL owners voted 30-2 to allow owner Rams Stan Kroenke (not pictured) to move the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles for the 2016 season with an option also award to Raiders owner Mark Davis (not pictured). Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oakland Raiders
Sep 19, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado State Rams wide receiver Joe Hansley (25) runs after a reception in the fourth quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Buffaloes defeated the Rams 27-24 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /

The Battle For Return Duties

It’s no secret that Oakland’s special teams return game wasn’t exactly – stellar – last season. For the year, the Raiders ranked 28th in the league in punt return average with a paltry 6.5 yards per return. They were better at returning kickoffs, but still ranked in the bottom half of the league – 18th with 23.9 yards per kick off return.

If you’re a football fan, you know that field position is critical and that breaking kick returns for long gainers – or even touchdowns – can change the entire complexion of a game.

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    • Last season, the Raiders used a combination of Travis Carrie, Jeremy Ross, and Amari Cooper to return punts, and an even bigger assortment of names to handle kickoff duties. As the stats show, nobody fared particularly well handling return duties for the Raiders – and if you’ve been a fan for a while and recall Tim Brown, the last thing you want to see is Cooper returning kicks.

    Special teams coach Brad Seely seems fairly high on keeping Taiwan Jones firmly in the mix for kickoff returns, saying Jones did a “nice job” for the team last season – leading the AFC with 829 return yards despite missing four games.

    But it’s not outside the realm of possibility that one of Oakland’s new faces – perhaps, running back Deandre Washington – might be able to work his way into the conversation.

    Punt return duties seem a lot more wide open. Though Carrie handled the majority of punt returns, he also got pretty banged up doing it – not something you want to see from a player who should have the inside track on being the team’s slot corner.

    Joe Hansley, a UDFA out of Colorado State has been turning some heads during the team’s offseason program. The coaching staff is liking what they’re seeing out of him as well as speedster Jaydon Mickens – another UDFA out of Washington – so it’s entirely possible that either one of them might be able to secure a spot on the roster for their punt return ability as it could make Oakland’s return game a bit more dynamic – which is something the team desperately needs.

    Next: The Battle For Inside Position

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