All eyes are on the starting spots for Pete Carroll’s football team — and rightfully.
In the inaugural season under their veteran head coach, the Las Vegas Raiders are grinding through the comPETE-phase of the offseason with the intent of not only putting on a good showing in the regular-season opening trip to face the New England Patriots, but to win the ball game.
To get to Week 1, the Silver & Black — along with the other 31 teams — embark on roster cuts. The drastic trim from the offseason 90-man
group to the 53-man mandated roster prior to the NFL’s 4 p.m. (1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time) deadline on Tuesday, Aug. 26.
But cuts will be the first in likely a wave of maneuvers for the Raiders (and other NFL squads, for that matter). Teams tend to have tough decisions ahead but Las Vegas embracing the compete for everything mantra that Carroll’s established means the fight for roster spots is fierce.
“I don’t think there’s a single position group like that. I think the whole roster is, it’s really competitive right now. So I think every position for those last couple of spots, there’s a lot of competition for it, and we kind of take the opportunity to evaluate every exposure,” Raiders assistant general manager Brian Stark said when asked if there’s’ a position group that might have the biggest challenge in terms of decisions. “So every practice, every game that we have from now until cut down day, is important for us. We want to see and provide as many opportunities for each of those players to compete as we can. So it’s hard to single out one position group, but I can tell you that the competition for those roster spots on the back end there, it’s going to go right down to the wire.”
The following day, Wednesday, Aug. 27, teams can make waiver claims for the group waxed in roster reductions up until Noon (or 9 a.m. PST). That’s also the day Las Vegas and others can establish its 17-man practice squad to bolster rosters.
But the moves don’t end there.
Expect the Raiders — a team building a foundation not only under Carroll, but general manager John Spytek — to make a flurry of moves before or even up until Week 1 to field as competitive a roster they can not only in the opener, but for the duration of the 2025 campaign.
That all said, the easiest way to make an NFL roster remains the same: Special teams.
There are some marquee spots up for grabs in that regard, namely kick and punt returner. The Raiders final preseason depth chart listed wide receiver Tre Tucker as the top option for both gigs. Behind him on kick returns were: Running back Sincere McCormick, Dylan Laube, and wide receiver Tommy Mellot. In punt return duties, running back Ashton Jeanty was listed behind Tucker followed by wide receiver Alex Bachman, and Mellot.
With a new kickoff rule enacted for the upcoming season — the gist being if the boot results in a touchback, the starting point for the offense is the 35-yard-line — the Raiders anticipate more action in that return game.
“Especially with that change this year too, we kind of know coming to every single game now that every ball is going to either be kicked between the 20 and the end zone, because we know now that it’s going to be, if it’s kicked in the end zone, it’s going to be on the 35 now,” running back and special teams hopeful Dylan Laube noted. “So we’ve been just preparing every single day, and it’s going to make the game and that new rule so much more fun. And it kind of helps me out too as a specialist type of guy in the return game.”
What Laube said at the end holds immense value. A roster hopeful can exponentially increase the chances of making the team by not only impressing at their listed position group, but by also showcasing special teams talent and willingness.
The kick and punt return coverage units are equally as important as the kicker or punter booting the ball into play. The blockers and personal protector are vital the punting operation as are the gunners who are trying to either limit or force fair catches to eliminate return yardage. And that can be an offensive or defensive player.
“Like DBs (defensive backs), the special teams contribution is really crucial for us, and we’’ll take that into account,” Carroll said when asked how much special teams work plays into the team’s decision-making in a crowded running back room. “I think that that position group is as solid as any group we’ve had in terms of their continued high level of play in all areas, not just running the football, but making their plays in pass protection, helping out catching and running and then special teams is alive. So, we’re going to take it into account and let it rip.”
Take last season, for example. Undrafted free agent rookie linebacker Amari Gainer was a special teams mainstay logging 380 snaps (79.83 percent of the Raiders total). Amari Burney, a sixth-round pick by Las Vegas in 2023, paced the group overall with a team-leading 384 special teams snaps (80.67 percent). Rookie fifth-round pick Tommy Eichenberg earned 313 snaps while safeties Chris Smith II (fifth-round pick in 2024) and Thomas Harper (also an undrafted rookie) rounded out the top five with 276 and 265 special teams snaps, respectively.
For the Raiders 2025 draft class, shining on special teams bolsters the chances of third-round pick Darien Porter — a special teams ace for Iowa State — Mellot (the 213th overall pick) and linebacker Cody Lindenberg (222nd overall). Porter appears to be an assured lock as a corner and special teamer, but if Mellot and Lindenberg make the 53-man cut or practice squad, expect their focus to be in one of special teams coach Tom McMahon’s groupings.
