Las Vegas Raiders’ training camp is underway with the team wrapping up its first week of practice. Football is finally back as the preseason starts on Thursday with the Hall of Fame game, and the regular season is around the corner. With plenty of excitement in the air, let’s get to this week’s mailbag!
Q: Do you think Klint Kubiak and Rob Leonard will tell Maxx Crosby that he can’t play every snap this year?
A: It sounds like Kubiak and Leonard are laying the foundation for this, as one of the first
pieces of news from training camp was that they told Crosby to dial it back a bit (h/t ESPN’s Ryan McFadden). Granted, the primary focus of that conversation seemed to be centered around not hitting the quarterback, essentially saying: “Don’t injure the future of the franchise, Maxx!” But I get the feeling that the overall message to the defensive end is that they want him to be smarter about how he approaches practices and his workload.
Now, whether or not Crosby takes that message to heart is a different story. He’s always been a high-motor guy who wants to play every snap, and that’s part of what makes him great. However, at the same time, that’s part of why he’s finished the last two seasons on injured reserve, and being more efficient with his reps/snaps will help improve his longevity.
I’m hopeful that Crosby will recognize that he needs to heed the coaching staff’s advice given how the last two years ended, and I’m encouraged that those conversations already seem to be taking place. But, of course, it remains to be seen if he’s actually listening.
A: I’d be pretty shocked if Eric Stokes isn’t a starter to begin the season, barring an injury, of course. He played well enough last year to earn the job, and it seems like the coaching staff has him firmly on the first-team defense because the rotation has exclusively been at the other cornerback spot. Plus, there’s still future value in Stokes since he just turned 27 years old and signed a three-year contract extension in the offseason.
Now, in a scenario where Darien Porter, Hezekiah Masses and Jermod McCoy are all playing well, Stokes’ contract is very tradable for the Raiders. The deal includes $20 million fully guaranteed, but only $6 million in signing bonus, so the trade partner would be taking on the bulk of the money and the Raiders wouldn’t have much dead cap hit ($1.2 million per year), according to Over The Cap.
That being said, I’d see that happening closer to the trade deadline or in the offseason rather than at the end of training camp in that scenario. From a front office perspective, you want to make sure a young player isn’t just having a good month of practice during training camp and can maintain a high level of play throughout the grind of a 17-game season before making any drastic decisions.
Long story short, I think Stokes is pretty much locked in as a starting corner heading into the 2026 season. But nothing is guaranteed beyond that, and the veteran should be looking over his shoulder if the young corners are showing out.
A: I’m conflicted about Vita Vea.
On one hand, I love Vea’s game and think he’s one of the best defensive tackles in the NFL. He’d immediately be the second-best defensive player on the Raiders’ roster, and the gap between Vea and Crosby would be pretty narrow. That’s how much I think of the player.
However, we’ve talked ad nauseam about how this is a rebuilding year for the Silver and Black where the primary focus is on the future and developing young players. Giving up a draft pick—in what many expect to be a very good class—for a 31-year-old doesn’t align with that strategy. Plus, they’d have to pay him immediately since the reason Vea wants out of Tampa Bay is that he and the Bucs can’t agree on a contract extension.
Ultimately, I’d love to see Vea in Las Vegas, but I think the smart move is to hold off on trading for him. Maybe he ends up hitting the free agent market in the offseason, and the Raiders can go after him then without having to give up a coveted draft pick. With how John Spytek operated this spring, I don’t see Spytek making a big swing for Vea.
Q: Is there any path for Jackson Powers-Johnson to get back into the starting lineup at one of the two guard spots where he belongs?
A: Absolutely. The early reports are that Powers-Johnson and Spencer Burford are the starting guards to begin camp. I’d consider JPJ the favorite to win one of the two jobs, and he clearly has an early lead over Caleb Rogers, Jordan Meredith and Trey Zuhn III. With a good summer, the 2024 second-round pick should be a first-stringer on Sept. 13.
Q: Who will start at free safety against the Dolphins? And who will be the next man up there?
A: This is a pair of million-dollar questions that I wish I had better answers to, LOL! I dove into more detail on this last week (hyperlink); to me, Treydan Stukes is the favorite to start at free safety. The problem is Stukes doesn’t have much experience playing the position right now, but he was versatile at Arizona and has the traits to make a smooth transition in the NFL.
After that, option B is probably just running it back with Isaiah Pola-Mao. However, that didn’t work out well last year, so maybe Dalton Johnson gets a shot as the next man up.
Johnson was also a versatile defensive back at Arizona, and he took a decent amount of snaps on the backend of the defense in college. I think he’s more of a strong safety/big nickel in the NFL, but this is kind of an experimental season for the Raiders, so I wouldn’t be opposed to giving him a shot at free safety. The options are pretty limited without a clear choice at the position; might as well see what the fifth-rounder can do.
Q: What role will Trey Zuhn have this coming season? Is he strictly a guard?
A: According to ESPN’s Ryan McFadden, Zuhn has already been getting snaps at center with the second-team offense, switching back and forth with Meredith. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the rookie gets some run at right tackle, especially if both DJ Glaze and Charles Grant are struggling early on in training camp.
Zuhn’s versatility is one of his biggest calling cards, giving him a chance to earn a starting spot at one of the three open competitions in the trenches. That being said, he’s most likely destined to be a versatile backup in year one, a “sixth-man” of the o-line, if you will.
Q: I’m bummed about Laki Tasi getting waived. What was the rush? Is it possible that the Raiders waived him so early to make other teams think he’s a bust and bring him back?
A: If a player gets waived ahead of and even during training camp, that means the coaching staff didn’t see him making the roster or having a role on the team down the line. That’s especially true for someone like Tasi, who needs to get reps. So, this isn’t the Raiders playing 4D chess and hoping that they can bring Tasi back a month from now.
I do feel bad for Tasi because he was jerked around in Las Vegas, originally signing as a defensive lineman but switching to the o-line under Pete Carroll, only to get moved back to the other side of the ball when Kubiak took over. He never had a full year to learn and play one position, which is difficult for any player, let alone someone who had never played the sport until last August.
Ultimately, Kubiak’s offense calls for lighter and more athletic offensive linemen, and it appears Tasi was too big a project for Leonard and Co. to take on. I think the other factor that played a role in the coaching staff’s decision is that teams only get one IPP player for the extra spot on the practice squad, and Kansei Matsuzawa also qualifies for it.
If we’re reading between the lines here, I’d imagine the Raiders’ plan is for Matt Gay to be the kicker this year and put Matsuzawa on the practice squad with the IPP exemption so that Matsuzawa can get stronger and improve his range, making Tasi expendable. So if you’re holding out hope that Tasi somehow makes his way back to Vegas, root for Matsuzawa to win the kicker job outright over Gay.
Q: WR Dont’e Thornton is a big, tall and fast WR. Is there any chance he breaks out this year into the next big thing? What is stopping him?
A: Is there a chance? Sure. But a good one? I don’t know about that.
Thornton definitely has the height, weight and speed that Al Davis would love and can’t be coached, but his route running is pretty rough right now. Also, part of what bugs me about his game is that he’s 6-foot-5 but plays small, meaning he doesn’t go up and get the ball in the air or make 50/50 catches.
For context, Pro Football Focus had the fourth-round pick coming down with just three out of 15 contested catch (20%) opportunities last season. Wide receivers who can’t get open on their own and can’t haul in passes in traffic don’t last very long in the NFL.
Of course, the 23-year-old is still young and has time to bounce back from a rough rookie campaign. But I was pretty disappointed by what I saw from him last year, and I’m not going to hold out hope much hope that Thornton turns the corner. I’ll gladly admit it if I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tennessee product gets left off the roster at the end of the month.
For those interested in diving deeper, Marcus and I recently did a “Tape Don’t Lie” breakdown on Thornton and Jack Bech (link).
A: Five to 10 years ago, sure. But the rebuilding Raiders aren’t in the business of signing a guy who will turn 36 years old at the end of August. I’d rather see someone like Carter Runyon, who has more future/long-term value, get a shot to prove himself than bring Taysom Hill aboard for a year.
A: On the topic, Ian Thomas is the first player who comes to mind. I was kind of surprised the new regime brought him back. He has a reputation of being a blocking tight end, but he wasn’t that good of a run blocker last year.
At this point, we know what type of player the eight-year veteran is in the league. If that’s just as a third tight end, what’s the point of keeping a 30-year-old role player in a rebuilding year when Runyon (25) could get a shot at that job? But coaches love vets, so I’m expecting Thomas to make the team, as of right now.
For the same reason, I also wouldn’t mind seeing Adam Butler (32) get left off the roster. Butler is another older role player—or at least he should be—and I’d rather see guys like Jonah Laulu, Tonka Hemingway, JJ Pegues, Brandon Cleveland and Gary Smith III get opportunities to prove themselves this season. For clarity, this is assuming the early practice reports where Butler and Thomas Booker IV are the starting defensive tackles to begin training camp hold true.
Benito Jones is another player who I think has a decent chance to make the roster but probably shouldn’t. Jones isn’t that old, turning 29 in late November. However, he’s been in the league since 2020 and has been a below-average nose tackle, hence why he was available in mid-May. But the Raiders don’t have many options at the position, so Jones could get the job by default.
Q: At what point in the year do you anticipate being able to make a final assessment on the Raiders’ offseason and outlook for the regular season? What will you be looking for in order to make that assessment?
A: I’ll definitely do something like this at the end of training camp/when the 53-man roster is finalized. It will probably be a separate article rather than being a part of mailbag, though, because I’ll do a deeper dive. That’ll be a fun one; I like the idea!
One of the biggest things I’ll be looking for is where each member of the 2026 draft class falls on the depth chart, and the same logic with other young players like Porter, JPJ, etc.
That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to SBPQuestions1@gmail.com or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.
