Raiders snubbed on CBS Sports’ top-100 players list
By Justin Fried
The Las Vegas Raiders were absolutely snubbed on CBS Sports’ top-100 player list
The Las Vegas Raiders may not have the most talented roster in the NFL, but general manager Mike Mayock and company have done an excellent job over the past few years of rebuilding what was at one point a pretty barren roster.
Not too long ago, the Raiders hosted one of the least talented rosters in the NFL. And if you were to base your opinions off of a recent top-100 players list released by CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco then you’d likely believe that’s still the case.
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The Raiders were absolutely snubbed from the questionable list having just one member of their roster make the top-100. In fact, 34 more players were named as honorable mentions — none of them Raiders.
The lone Raiders player to make the list was tight end Darren Waller who came in at 79th on the list. Given the incredible season that Waller had in 2019, his inclusion on the list is well-deserved.
The converted wide receiver was the fourth tight end in the rankings behind superstars such as George Kittle, Travis Kelce, and Zach Ertz. That certainly seems like a fair assessment.
But it’s the exclusion of some of the other names on the Raiders’ roster that’s cause for concern.
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Which Raiders players were excluded from the list?
Players like Josh Jacobs, Rodney Hudson, Richie Incognito, and Cory Littleton all at least should have garnered consideration. Jacobs and Hudson, in particular, feel like massive oversights.
For Jacobs specifically, the other running backs to make the list ahead of him are truly astounding. While players like Christian McCaffrey and Ezekiel Elliott are no-brainers, is it really fair to say that the likes of Joe Mixon and Aaron Jones are better than Jacobs?
They certainly weren’t last year.
Yet, both of them made the top-100 rankings. Even Austin Ekeler of all players was listed as an honorable mention. Are we really saying that Austin Ekeler is a better player than Josh Jacobs now?
The omissions of Hudson and Incognito seem to make more sense given the structure of the list. After Quenton Nelson at No. 15, not a single interior offensive lineman was ranked until Zack Martin all the way at No. 50.
In total, only two centers made the top 134 players (cunting the honorable mentions), Jason Kelce and Ryan Jensen. Hudson shockingly failed to qualify despite still playing at a very high level.
Meanwhile, Littleton was passed up by the likes of Alexander Johnson and Zach Cunningham. For reference sake, Cunningham was ranked as Pro Football Focus’ No. 21 linebacker in the NFL last year while Littleton came in at No. 8.
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The list is suspect for a multitude of reasons, but perhaps no team was snubbed more than the Raiders.
I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however.