We have more Las Vegas Raiders football this weekend with the preseason matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday. But first, we have this week’s mailbag column to go over, touching on training camp, the outlook for this season and Jakobi Meyers’ contract situation.
Q: What are your thoughts on why Jakobi Meyers has not been extended yet? Do you think it is still a possibility that a deal gets done before the season opener?
A: It’s definitely still a possibility that Meyers gets an extension before the season opener, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it happens in the time between cutdown day (Tuesday, August 26) and Week 1 in New England (September 7). Also, Meyers hasn’t set a deadline where a deal has to get done before the start of the season, so we could see it happen in the fall.
As for why the wideout hasn’t been extended yet, the new regime talked about wanting to get to know Kolton Miller more and see how Miller practices before agreeing to a long-term contract. I’d imagine it’s the same situation with Meyers, just the front office prioritized the left tackle since Miller plays the more premium/valuable position. Adding to the latter, Meyers isn’t the true “WR1” for the Raiders; Brock Bowers is.
One factor that gives me pause in thinking Jakobi will get an extension is that Las Vegas just spent three draft picks on wide receivers: Jack Bech (round 2), Dont’e Thornton (round 4), and Tommy Mellott (round 6). Combine that with Meyers not being brought in by John Spytek and Pete Carroll, and maybe there’s some hesitation from the new regime to extend the 28-year-old who turns 29 in November.
Q: With the plethora of changes the Raiders made during the offseason, one thing appears to have stayed the same: The offensive line cannot run block. Do you have any ideas as to why? Is it the scheme, the players, or some combination of the two?
A: I wouldn’t get too concerned about this right now. It’s been one preseason game where Kolton Miller and Dylan Parham had one run blocking snap each (via Pro Football Focus), DJ Glaze had four, while Jordan Meredith and Jackson Powers-Johnson have been flipping positions throughout training camp. Also, it’s a new offense that everyone is still trying to get comfortable with.
The majority of offensive linemen who got a significant amount of playing time last week are young guys who are still getting their feet wet in the NFL. Thayer Munford Jr. is the only guy I’d be concerned with, but Munford is a backup who, ideally, will only see the field sparingly anyway.
Q: Is management invested in Thomas Booker IV like a high draft pick because they traded a former starter for him?
A: No. It’s important to remember that Jakorian Bennett was drafted by Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels, two general managers and head coaches ago for the Silver and Black. So, Spytek and Carroll specifically didn’t have anything invested in Bennett, and it sounds like they were trending toward cutting the cornerback anyway.
That being said, Booker does have a good chance of making the team and could even earn a starting job. But I wouldn’t say the organization is invested in him like a high draft pick, considering the situation Bennett was in.
A: None. Ashton Jeanty had three carries behind an offensive line that consisted of backups and two guys who are playing different positions from last season.
A: I wish I could. I’m scared, too!
There are so many question marks on that side of the ball that I think the Raiders could have a tough time getting stops this season. Edge/defensive end is the only position I’m confident in heading into the fall.
The silver lining is, I do think there’s some young talent on defense with guys like Darien Porter, Decamerion Richardson, Tommy Eichenberg, etc., and the coaching staff is solid with Carroll, Patrick Graham and Rob Leonard. The unit just has a lot of young players who are going to take some time to develop.
A: Aidan O’Connell, easily.
For some context that’s missing, Geno Smith’s two incompletions were on the receivers (one drop by Meyers and a poor adjustment to a back-shoulder throw by Thornton), and O’Connell had 30 attempts while Cam Miller only had seven. That’s without even bringing up the two interceptions that O’Connell threw. Miller was the superior quarterback last week, and that’s not debatable.
A: A “pressure” is any pass rush rep that impacts the quarterback, whether that is forcing him to move in or out of the pocket, hitting him as he throws or bringing him down to the ground for a sack. The problem with just looking at sacks is that they can be a misleading stat.
For example, if say Maxx Crosby wins around the edge to force the quarterback to step up in the pocket and Adam Butler cleans it up for a sack, that won’t show up in the boxscore for Crosby but does for Butler, despite it being a better rep for Crosby. In other words, Butler doesn’t make the play if it isn’t for Crosby’s efforts. And that can go the other way too; Butler gets interior pressure to force the QB to scramble, and Crosby cleans it up for a sack.
A pass rusher getting a clean win and sacking the quarterback will always be the most valuable play for a defensive lineman. But just because they have a sack next to their name doesn’t mean that they beat the man they lined up across from and had a high-quality pass rush.
Also, sacks aren’t a great measure of how much a pass-rusher is impacting the game. Crosby had a career-high 14.5 sacks in 2023, which is a good number. However, if you just look at that stat, it would appear as if he only made an impact on 15 of the 657 times he rushed the passer, so less than one play per game. Compare that to the 94 pressures he had, per PFF, and now we’re talking about him making an impact five to six times per game, which is a more accurate portrayal.
So, I tend to place more weight on pass rushers who accumulate more pressures over sacks because that means they’re “winning” more frequently.
A: The defensive tackle rotation depends on whether Butler picks up where he left off last season. Traditionally, he’s been an interior rusher who struggles against the run, but he showed growth in the latter last year. If Butler continues to get better as a run defender, he’ll be the closest to a complete/three-down defensive tackle on the roster.
If not, Jonah Laulu and either Booker or Zach Carter will be the two run-stuffers in the middle. Rookie JJ Pegues can factor into that mix, too; it just depends on whether or when the coaching staff feels he’s ready for action. Then Butler and Tyree Wilson can be the interior pass-rushers, with Tonka Hemingway in a similar spot as Pegues.
On the edge, Crosby is an every-down guy, and Malcolm Koonce showed a lot of growth as a run defender in 2023. Of course, there’s the question of how Koonce can bounce back from the torn ACL, though. Wilson can be a good edge-setter to factor into the mix here as well. The third edge-rusher spot is very much up for grabs. I still like Jah Joyner to win that job, but Charles Snowden is the more obvious choice since Snowden has experience on his side.
A: That’s a good question because Hemingway fits into the tweener category. As mentioned above, I think he’ll be more of a role player as an interior pass-rusher in year one. But I’d assume the long-term vision is for him to be a defensive end on run downs and slide inside in passing situations.
Hemingway is an athletic defensive tackle, but has issues anchoring on the interior against double teams and bigger/stronger offensive linemen. So, they can put him on the edge to draw more one-on-one blocks versus offensive tackles, and then use his quickness and athleticism to beat guards in the passing game.
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 [email protected] or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.
See More:
