A look at how 2023 draft class fared in Week 18
Let’s look at how the Las Vegas Raiders 2023 draft class fared in a 34-20 Week 18 home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers:
Six of the nine players from the draft class are currently in the program. The Raiders cut third-round pick Byron Young and he was claimed by the Philadelphia Eagles. He was inactive in Week 1. Seventh-round pick, defensive tackle Nesta Jade Silvera was cut in Week 7 and is now on the San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad. Fourth-round pick, starting cornerback Jakorian Bennett is on the injured reserve with a shoulder injury and is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Tyree Wilson:
The No. 7 overall draft pick played 51 percent of the snaps, his lowest in four games. He had just one assisted tackle after having a strong game in Week 17 at New Orleans. Wilson has had trouble playing consistently well in his two-season career.
Michael Mayer:
Mayer played 80 percent of the offensive snaps, his second highest total of the season. He caught all four of his targets, for 21 yards. The second-round pick from Notre Dame had 21 catches for 156 yards in 11 games.
Tre Tucker:
The speedy third-round pick played 80 percent of the snaps, his lowest amount since Week 2. He had three catches for 24 yards. He had 47 catches for 539 yards. Not great numbers for someone who played starter snaps most of the season.
Aidan O’Connell:
O’Connell completed 24 of 34 passes for 214 yards with two touchdown passes (one in the final second of a double-digit loss) and he threw a bad interception that helped fuel the Chargers’ takeover of the game. He was just so-so and didn’t show much to make his case to be the 2025 starter.
Chris Smith:
The fifth-round safety from Georgia was inactive for the second straight game after being active for the first 15 games of the season.
Amari Burney:
The sixth-round pick played a season-high 16 snaps at linebacker and 25 snaps on special teams. He had four tackles.
Conclusion:
This draft class didn’t do much in this game.
