As fleeting as the moments were, if you caught the preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys this past Saturday, you saw exactly why the Las Vegas Raiders rolled the dice and took Tyree Wilson No. 7 overall this past April.
The Texas Tech product provided the reasons why draft pundits earmarked the 6-foot-6, 275-pound pass rusher as a Top 10 pick heading into the 2023 NFL Draft. A nightmarish combination of speed and power, Wilson has the height and length to make him a terror to block, and against the Cowboys in Texas, the former Red Raider gave us insight on what he can be as a “Silver and Black Raider.”
I mean, come on. Look at this:
.@Raiders @tyreewilson77 made his #RaiderNation debut last night and he did some flashy things…Definitely caught my attention. @CrosbyMaxx & @chanjones55 & Tyree. It’s time to make life miserable for all QB’s. It’s time. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/GaUuyIDC8O
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) August 27, 2023
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Putting an NFL right tackle—in this case, Josh Ball, who stands at 6-foot-8 and 304 pounds—on roller skates is quite the feat. That’s not easy to do. Sure, one can note Wilson had the advantage with the super wide rush, which gave him plenty of ramp-up room. I’ll give you that. But don’t take away the speed-to-power conversion on display on that particular rep. For a prospect who was recovering from a foot fracture, the explosiveness is something to behold. The conjecture was that Wilson would need time to recover and gain the explosiveness in college that made him a prospect to salivate over. But that play gives the Raiders ample optimism.
It shows that where there’s a “Wilson, there’s a way.”
There was frustration among Raider Nation regarding Wilson. And for good reason. One can’t simply dismiss the anger directed towards the team for “gambling” on Wilson instead of selecting the “sure thing” in Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter (who went to the Philadelphia Eagles just two picks later at No. 9). The concern only grew when the Raiders placed Wilson on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to begin with and exponentially multiplied when the team didn’t put a definitive timeline on the No. 7 overall selection’s return.
Well, he’s on the field. And Wilson expressed that he shared the same frustration the Raiders’ loyal and rabid fanbase exhibited.
“”I’m a competitor, so it was frustrating. They were in my ear every day, ‘trust the process, trust the process, Wilson said in the postgame press conference after Las Vegas’ preseason finale. I just had to believe in the process and know that they were doing the right thing and what was best for my health.”
Tyree Wilson vs. Will Grier
Saturday’s exhibition finale was the perfect time to get Wilson on the field with vital reps against another team. It was the proverbial good, the bad, and the ugly for Wilson. And that’s something you can’t get in training camp practices alone. In order to improve, the Raiders had to get Wilson on the field against the Cowboys to get the all-important tape. As impressive as Wilson’s driving Ball backward and tossing him was, the pass rusher appeared to completely forget about Dallas quarterback Will Grier. The absence of awareness there is concerning.
Yet, let’s add one caveat: In a true regular-season clash, if Wilson does that to an opposing tackle, he’ll have elite Silver & Black QB hunter-killer Maxx Crosby on the opposite end. Merely doing that will force a quarterback into the danger zone, creating an absolute nightmare of a scenario. It’s akin to a wolfpack or pod of orcas driving prey into the kill zone.
“Me and him talked pregame. You know Maxx has been huge in my preparation these past few weeks, getting back on the field,” Wilson said of Crosby. “He’s been coaching me up and coaching up the details, and he was doing the same thing today. He was like, Don’t think too much; just go out there and do what you do.”
That in itself has to tickle the Raiders’ fancy.
“Today was another step in the right direction,” Las Vegas head coach Josh McDaniels noted about Wilson during his postgame presser. “Get him out there on a game field; he had padded practices this week. I thought he showed up a little bit; I’ll have to see the film just to know exactly how it went. Just another positive step in the right direction.”
The journey in the right direction, when it comes to Wilson, will be both arduous and rewarding. He’s got all the physical tools you’d want from an NFL edge rusher. His technique and awareness are where he’s most raw, but those can be sharpened by repetition. Mistakes will be made, but there will be flashes of brilliance in between, too. He’s got the makings of a complete edge who can disrupt the pass and run. Take a gander at him with his hands in the dirt, playing the traditional defensive end role:
Nice rep by Wilson at 5 tech. Pad level and hand placement allow him to get leverage and make a stop.
He can help with the run game day 1 pic.twitter.com/RE7FRnZdqG
— Marcus Johnson (@TheMarcJohnNFL) August 27, 2023
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That’s not as sexy as wrecking the quarterback, but for a Raiders team that must stymie the run to get remotely close to where they want to be, it’s noteworthy.
You can’t teach size…
What Wilson was able to do against Dallas validates what his teammates were saying when he finally joined them in training camp practices. It wasn’t just merely sunshine and rainbows positive posturing.
“I mean, you can’t teach size, right? So, for him to be able to do what he’s doing now and just watch a little glimpse of potential, it’s a beautiful thing,” veteran defensive tackle John Jenkins said of Wilson two weeks ago. “Now, he just needs to build the confidence, and I’m glad to have him on the team.”
From here on in, we’ll get to see Wilson when games are for real. And we’ll see if he can build confidence and be the difference-maker the Raiders envisioned when they made him the seventh overall selection.
*Top Photo: Getty Images