Two-thirds of the Las Vegas Raiders’ preseason is over after the 22-20 win against the Houston Texans on Thursday night, which means training camp is winding down and the position battles are nearing an end. With that in mind, let’s dive into this week’s winners and losers.
WINNER: Treydan Stukes
A lot was made about Stukes getting off to a slow start in training camp, and he was pretty quiet in the Raiders’ first preseason game, too. However, the second-round pick had a much-needed strong performance against the Texans.
He only played in the first half and managed to record four tackles, with three of them being impactful stops.
According to Pro Football Focus, Stukes only allowed 13 yards on three catches in coverage, and one of those was an eight-yard grab. Even the rep he lost, he was at least in a position to contest the catch. More importantly, the versatile defensive back was sharp at both the free safety and nickelback spots.
The coaching staff has mentioned that they threw a lot at him to begin camp and that it seemed like everything was starting to click for him more recently, which showed up on Thursday night.
LOSER: Malik Benson
While Benson technically only had one drop, he also had a pass ripped out of his hands that should have been hauled in for a completion. To make matters worse, those two failed catch attempts came on third downs, and he hauled in just one of five targets on the evening. The sixth-rounder has put together a strong training camp to have a bigger role than expected in year one, but he likely ended any hopes of beating out Jack Bech for the third wide receiver spot on the depth chart.
WINNER: Dylan Laube
On the opposite end, there wasn’t much competition for the third running back role in Las Vegas, but the team was looking for someone to take command of the battle. Laube answered the call with a handful of impressive runs, toting the rock six times for 37 yards (6.2 ypc) and a touchdown, while adding a 14-yard catch to his stat line. That likely cemented his roster spot.
LOSER: Kansei Matsuzawa
There’s some hyperbole in this statement, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a kicker with a worse preseason than Matsuzawa in NFL history. He had a disastrous kickoff and missed a chip shot field goal last week, and then missed two PATs against the Texans. At this point, it’s safe to say Matt Gay won the kicker job, and one has to wonder if it’s even worth keeping the Tokoyo Toe on the practice squad as the IPP exemption.
WINNER: Patrick Johnson
I have no idea how Johnson is going to make the Raiders’ 53-man roster with how deep edge is, but the guy has done his job by forcing the coaching staff to make a tough decision.
Per PFF, Las Vegas has 18 total pressures during the preseason, and he accounts for five or about 28 percent of them. The strip sack in Houston was icing on the cake, and the 28-year-old has been playing well against the run too, earning a 71.3 PFF run defense grade and recording three defensive stops as a run defender over the two games.
Johnson could be a prime candidate to occupy one of the four veteran spots on Las Vegas’ practice squad, unless another team picks him up after camp.
LOSER: Run Defense
To the defense’s credit, they did buckle down once the Texans brought their backups into the game and only gave up 78 total rushing yards. However, Woody Marks averaged over nine yards per carry on the first drive, capping it off by breaking a few tackles for a 20-yard touchdown run. Sure, it was against the Raiders’ second-team defense, but many of the players on the field for that drive are expected to contribute this season.
Also, this is the second week in a row that an opponent has had no issues running the ball right down the middle of the Silver and Black’s defense to begin the game. The unit is still looking for a defensive tackle to step up and be a run-stuffer, but their best option right now is Foley Fatukasi, who was signed earlier this week. Granted, if you’re looking for optimism, the positive spin is that Fatukasi looked good and had a strong showing against the run.
WINNER: Aidan O’Connell
At this point, O’Connell is auditioning for another team, and putting together a game-winning drive certainly helps his cause. He finished 15 of 24 for 166 yards and no interceptions while engineering three touchdown drives, and he was the Raiders’ best quarterback of the night. Whether that’s at the end of camp this year or during the offseason, that should be enough for AOC to get another opportunity elsewhere.
To address the elephant in the room, Fernando Mendoza definitely had an off-night, ‘lowlighted’ by the pick-six. He also looked jittery and had a slow start during his first couple of drives. But there’s some shared blame/a miscomunication with Mike Washington Jr. on the interception, and I liked how he settled in to make a handful of quality throws and somewhat salvage the performance. Also, Benson’s issues made the No. 1 pick’s stat line look worse.
In my opinion, that’s what keeps Mendoza from being a ‘loser’, but there’s no denying that he needs to play better moving forward.
LOSER: Caleb Rogers
With Jackson Powers-Johnson sidelined, Rogers had an opportunity to take command of the right guard competition. He didn’t play poorly in pass protection with just one pressure on 17 opportunities, per PFF, but a 46.9 run blocking grade against the Texans’ second-team defense isn’t going to get the job done. The second-year pro could still win the starting battle next week, but he certainly didn’t take advantage of the situation on Thursday night.
WINNER: Hezekiah Masses
After a tough NFL debut where the Cardinals completed every pass they threw at him, Masses had a bounce-back performance in Houston. He was targeted four times and only surrendered one catch for one yard, per PFF. That’s the type of game the fifth-round pick needed to justify the training camp hype.
LOSER: Team Discipline
Mistakes are expected in the preseason, but Klint Kubiak talked about how frustrating last week’s eight penalties for 75 yards were, and the team responded by getting flagged nine times for 83 yards. If the Raiders are going to pull off any upsets this season, they can’t beat themselves. Giving up over 150 free yards to the other team in two preseason games isn’t exactly encouraging in that department.
