Well, Game 1 of the NFL preseason for the Las Vegas Raiders has come and gone, and it was a solid outcome for the team.
A victory of 27 to 11 feels good for Raiders fans, and yes, it’s the preseason, so don’t get too excited, but regardless, it was good to see. The victory saw plenty of surprising performances. At the same time, there were some underwhelming outings by the Raiders. These are three players who had a dud to opening the exhibition schedule.
3 Duds For The Las Vegas Raiders against the Jacksonville Jaguars
Dud No. 1 – Brandon Parker
What else is there to say? Parker looked lost at times in the field and gave up two sacks. One was to the player happy to get sacks in moments that don’t count, Arden Key, and that really won’t go over well. Parker appears to have the tackle spot to lose, but there will be no faith in him from Raider Nation after his performance against Jacksonville. With everything the Raiders have invested in pass catchers, Derek Carr needs time to throw, and who knows if Parker can provide that moving forward?
Dud No. 2 – Kenyan Drake
Drake was a fan favorite last year before his season-ending injury, and with all the new additions to the running back room, he may be playing for a job. He ended the game with five carries for nine yards. He also had to leave for a bit after getting dinged up. It wasn’t his best performance, and for Drake’s sake, he might need to perform better in the next game. However, this was a tough one in his first game back from injury. It looks tougher after the performance from Zamir White, who ended with 52 yards on 11 carries. Drake will need to show an improvement next week to avoid looking over his shoulder.
Dud No. 3 – Nick Mullens
Mullens is in a battle for QB2 and he’s behind the eight ball as Jarrett Stidham has been in this offense for three years. It showed as he outplayed Mullens. It wasn’t a terrible performance. He played satisfactorily and led a touchdown drive, but he had a few bad throws and fumbled a snap. The main bad play was in the second quarter when he hung a pass out a little too much. So, what could’ve possibly been a sure touchdown ended up being a contested pass. To make matters worse, it was picked off as well. He was not brought back into the game following the play. If the former Niner wants a job in Vegas, he will need to clean up those mistakes.
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*Top Photo: Sam Greenwood and Icon Sports Wire / Getty Images