If the Las Vegas Raiders aren’t able to re-sign wide receiver Nelson Agholor, they will need to have a fallback. It looks like JuJu Smith-Schuster of the Pittsburgh Steelers is at the top of their list. Nevertheless, they should consider targeting Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Keelan Cole, who will probably hit the open market too.
Keelan Cole is an underrated wide receiver
Keelan Cole may not garner as much attention in free agency. After all, there will be other more talented wide receivers such as Allen Robinson in the open market. However, he could provide a reliable target for whoever takes a chance on him. An undrafted free agent in 2017, the Kentucky Wesleyan product has hauled in 159 receptions for 2,242 yards and 12 receptions in his four-year tenure in Jacksonville.
Cole has never had more than 748 receiving yards in a season, but you could blame that on the Jaguars’ instability at the quarterback position. If they had a better signal-caller, his numbers would surely be better. Before the season ended the wide receiver expressed his desire to stay in Jacksonville. It’s unclear if the ‘Jags’ want to keep him, but if they let him walk in free agency, the Raiders should target him.
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Why should the Raiders target Keelan Cole?
The Raiders are currently $18 million in the red, which will make it difficult to bring ‘Nelly’ back. NFL reporter John Clayton says they’re ‘very interested’ in Smith-Schuster but the Steelers wide receiver may not fit in their budget either. Thus they need to keep Cole on their radar.
Cole can line up both outside and in the slot and could be a solid complementary wide receiver on head coach Jon Gruden’s offense. It would nice to see the Raiders bring back Agholor. In case they don’t, they should sign Cole. They wouldn’t break the bank and would add a veteran voice to their locker room.
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