Training camp is truly an exciting time. Fans get an early glimpse at which players on their team to look out for, and personnel around the National Football League get their first chance to evaluate how players fit with what they’re building. When the vision starts becoming a bit clearer, a team will release their first depth chart. On Tuesday, the Silver and Black did just that, putting out the first Raiders depth chart of the 2023 season.
And now, it’s time to overreact.
This is but the first depth chart of the year, and in many ways, means little to nothing. The givens aside – such as Davante Adams, Maxx Crosby, Kolton Miller, and Jimmy Garoppolo, for example, being set in stone starters – spots merely serve as placeholders as both training camp and the preseason paint a better picture of what’s what.
There’s little fun in approaching it like that, however.
Before getting to the overreactions, let’s settle the matter first at hand: what the Raiders’ first depth chart of 2023 looks like.
Las Vegas Raiders first depth chart of 2023 season
The first variant of the Silver and Black’s depth chart can be found below, courtesy of the official Raiders website.
| Position | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR | Davante Adams | Phillip Dorsett II | Keelan Cole Sr. | Cam Sims |
| LT | Kolton Miller | Brandon Parker | Justin Herron | |
| LG | Dylan Parham | Netane Muti | Vitaliy Gurman | |
| C | Andre James | Hroniss Grasu | Jordan Meredith | |
| RG | Alex Bars | Greg Van Roten | McClendon Curtis* | |
| RT | Jermaine Eluemunor | Thayer Munford Jr.. | Dalton Wagner* | |
| TE | Austin Hooper | Michael Mayer* | Jesper Horsted | Jacob Hollister |
| Cole Fotheringham | John Samuel Shenker* | |||
| WR | Jakobi Meyers | DeAndre Carter | DJ Turner | Chris Lacy |
| WR | Hunter Renfrow | Tre Tucker* | Kristian Wilkerson | |
| QB | Jimmy Garoppolo | Brian Hoyer | Aidan O’Connell* | Chase Garbers |
| RB | Zamir White | Ameer Abdullah | Brandon Bolden | Brittain Brown |
| Sincere McCormick | ||||
| FB | Jakob Johnson |
| Position | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE | Maxx Crosby | Malcolm Koonce | Isaac Rochell | David Agoha* |
| [Tyree Wilson]* | ||||
| DT | Jerry Tillery | John Jenkins | Matthew Butler | Kyle Peko |
| [Neil Farrell Jr.] | ||||
| DT | Bilal Nichols | Adam Butler | Byron Young* | Nesta Jade Silvera* |
| DE | Chandler Jones | Jordan Willis | Adam Plant* | George Tarlas* |
| OLB | Robert Spillane | Darius Harris | Curtis Bolton | |
| MLB | Divine Deablo | Darien Butler | Drake Thomas* | |
| OLB | Luke Masterson | Amari Burney* | ||
| CB | Nate Hobbs | Jakorian Bennett* | Tyler Hall | Sam Webb |
| Ike Brown | Bryce Cosby | |||
| CB | Marcus Peters | Brandon Facyson | Amik Robertson | Duke Shelley |
| David Long Jr. | Azizi Hearn* | |||
| FS | Tre’von Moehrig | Isaiah Pola-Mao | Jaquan Johnson | |
| SS | Marcus Epps | Roderic Teamer | Chris Smith II* | Jaydon Grant* |
| Position | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| P | AJ Cole | ||
| K | Daniel Carlson | ||
| H | AJ Cole | ||
| LS | Jacob Bobenmoyer | ||
| KR | DeAndre Carter | Ameer Abdullah | DJ Turner |
| PR | DeAndre Carter | Hunter Renfrow | Keelan Cole Sr. |
Now that we all know what we’re working with, let’s get to overreacting.
Let’s overreact, Raider Nation
As far as starters go, there’s really not much that should come as a surprise. Admittedly, Alex Bars isn’t the ideal player at right guard – as proven by his 39.6 run blocking grade in 2022 via Pro Football Focus, which ranked third-lowest among all guards league-wide in with at least 100 snaps – but it’s an expected placeholder this early nonetheless. With Josh Jacobs not yet under contract, it’s equally unsurprising that Zamir White is the Raiders designated RB1.
Current RG2 Greg Van Roten is someone I expect to be in contention for the starting job at right guard. In 354 snaps, spending time at both center and guard, Van Roten finished his ’22 campaign with grades of 58.6 (run) and 60.4 (pass). The 33-year-old was responsible for zero sacks throughout the season.
Jermaine Eluemunor also makes sense for this spot, although Eluemunor himself has confirmed he has not been getting snaps at the position. In this scenario, second-year Raiders tackle Thayer Munford Jr. would take over at right tackle.
Jakorian Bennett’s ascension should raise no eyebrows
The depth is where it gets much more interesting.
Duke Shelley being stuck behind virtually every corner on Las Vegas’ 90-man roster is certainly something to note. In 2022, Shelley earned the fourth-highest coverage grade at his position (84.9) while being tied for first via highest pass-breakup percentage (27%). Add in the fact that Shelley was one-of-seven corners (totaling at least 100 coverage snaps) to surrender a completion percentage south of 50%, and you start to understand why this is perplexing. Be that as it may, it’s still too early in the process to mean much of anything.
On the other side of things, rookie Jakorian Bennett’s ascension on the depth chart should raise no eyebrows. The fourth-round Raiders draft pick has been getting high praise all throughout camp, with many projecting him a starter on the outside.
While on the subject of rookies, Tre Tucker’s absence from both return spots is an unexpected development. DeAndre Carter totaled the fifth-most punt return yards league-wide in 2022, so his name being etched into the starting role is no shock. More impressively, Carter’s 11.7 yards per punt return ranked second-highest among all return men. The surprise isn’t that Tucker hasn’t overthrown him – it’s that Tucker isn’t on the list anywhere.
With a top-six 40-time at his position during the combine and near-elite shiftiness, Tucker seemed to be a surefire contributor on returns. As things stand right now, that isn’t in the cards.
Perhaps that has to do with the rookie’s spectacular play at wideout in camp. Thus far, Raiders coaches can’t get enough of Tucker hauling in passes. Still, the competition at receiver is extremely tight; it’s far from a guarantee that the Cincinnati alum will get a fair-share of field time as a pass catcher.
*Top Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports