It’s back-to-back primetime games for the Las Vegas Raiders as Week 11 pits them against the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. As a reminder, with the Raiders sitting at 2-7 and three games back from
a Wild Card spot entering the weekend, the focus for key matchups will be on young players who have a future with the organization.
On that note, Raider Nation will likely get to watch a rookie whom the fanbase has been asking to see hit the field for several weeks now, guard Caleb Rogers.
Caleb Rogers vs. Quinnen Williams
As mentioned above, it’s looking like fans will get their wish since Jackson Powers-Johnson was placed on injured reserve and Dylan Parham is also banged up, creating a pathway for Rogers to get playing time. Also, the rookie told Silver & Black Sports Network’s Jesse Merrick that this will be “week one as a starter” for him, and he’s looking forward to the opportunity to go against Williams.
Meanwhile, the defensive tackle will also be making his first start for his new team after getting traded from the New York Jets to the Cowboys ahead of last week’s NFL trade deadline, which was also Dallas’ bye week. That being said, these two have dramatically different resumes in the league.
The three-time Pro Bowler (2022-2024) and 2022 first-team All-Pro is a top-tier player at his position, especially against the run. According to Pro Football Focus, he leads interior defenders with 22 defensive stops as a run defender and an elite 90.8 grade in that department.
While Williams is having a down year as a pass-rusher, currently totaling just one sack and 19 pressures, he finished the 2024 regular season with six and tied for the seventh-most pressures (54) among defensive tackles. And the latter was down from the year before, where he had 70 pressures and ranked third at his position. In other words, he’s a threat in the passing game, too, and could be a problem now that he’s on a new team.
On the other side, this will be just the second game Rogers has been active for and the first time he’s gotten action in the regular season, assuming he is indeed starting. The third-round pick got some run in the preseason, allowing four pressures (no sacks, one QB hit) on 71 opportunities while logging a 54.3 run-blocking grade, according to PFF.
So, this will certainly be a trial by fire for the rookie, but he has the right mindset and seems to be up for the challenge.
Darien Porter/Kyu Blu Kelly vs. George Pickens
It’s a bit of a mystery who the Raiders are going to start at cornerback between Kelly and Porter. While the latter has gotten the nod in the last two weeks, he gave up five completions on six targets for 65 yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars, per PFF, and had a few coverage busts (though he wasn’t targeted on them) versus the Denver Broncos.
Meanwhile, despite not starting, Kelly ended up taking more snaps than the rookie (35 to 26) and had two interceptions in Denver. So, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the three-year veteran return to the starting lineup or at least continue to rotate with Porter. Considering both players are 24 years old—Porter is actually four months older than Kelly—either could be part of the long-term plan in Las Vegas.
Regardless, the Raiders’ cornerbacks will have their hands full with Pickens. The offseason addition currently ranks fourth in the league with 764 receiving yards and is tied for third among wide receivers with six touchdowns.
Also, he’s a threat to create explosive plays with seven catches on targets 20 or more yards past the line of scrimmage, tied for fourth at his position per PFF, and leads wideouts with 13 contested catches. Building on the latter, Pickens has hauled in 61.9 percent of contested targets, meaning he’s a pass-catcher who is open even when he doesn’t create separation.
On that note, whoever has the most success against Pickens between Kelly and Porter could have a leg up in the battle for a starting job moving forward.
Jonah Laulu vs. Tyler Booker/Tyler Smith
Laulu has been praised for his traits and potential, but the consistency still isn’t there. For example, he’s posted a PFF defensive grade above 60 (the site’s baseline) just once in nine games this season and has a run defense mark of 35.9. While he has four sacks this season, three were coverage sacks, and he’s struggled to win consistently with just 17 pressures and a pass-rush win rate of 3.5 percent.
Especially with rookie Tonka Hemingway lurking in the shadows and getting some run against the Broncos, it’s time for Laulu to start producing, or he could lose his spot on the depth chart. However, that might be a tough task against the Cowboys’ guards, especially in the ground game.
Booker was known for his nasty demeanor coming out of Alabama, and the rookie currently owns the sixth-best PFF run blocking grade (79.0) among guards with at least 138 snaps. After being a Pro Bowler in 2023 and 2024, Smith is having a bit of a down year this fall, but still ranks tied for 17th with a 70.9 mark as a run blocker.
In the passing game, the rookie has surrendered 12 pressures (one sack, four QB hits) on 288 opportunities, while the four-year pro has given up 11 pressures (two sacks, zero QB hits) on 332 opportunities, via PFF. Granted, that’s only led to average grades in that department (60.4 and 57.7, respectively) for the two linemen.
That sets up for an interesting battle between three players who are 25 years old or younger.
