The Raiders’ wide receivers have a receiver room that is lacking in talent. After a poor showing in the second preseason game, head coach Klint Kubiak publicly ripped into the receivers.
“We have to get a lot better, very fast,” Kubiak said of his wide receivers on Friday. “We took a step backwards. Doesn’t mean we can’t go forward, but right now we are trying to find someone that is accountable and can help us on Sunday. Still looking.”
Offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko explained a bit more in detail what the coaching staff is looking for from the wide receivers.
“What we’re looking for is for guys to get off the ball at the right tempo. Guys to get their precise depths. Guys to make sure that their break points are correct. And then guys that make moment-of-truth plays,” Janocko said.
Players at any position that can rise to the moment and make big plays will always be valuable. But the other three keys Janocko mentioned are all technical skills. That is concerning.
The coaching staff has called out the wide receivers on the team to play better. And the actual issues appear to be simplistic. That could be construed as a positive, because running precise routes and getting timing down could be easily fixed.
But the Raiders have just one more preseason game and route running and timing with the snap are still a problem. Actually making a positive impact on the team seems to be far away for this position group.
The Receivers’ Response
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The only wide receiver that didn’t play in last week’s preseason game was Tre Tucker, as he appears to have locked up the top wide receiver spot. Tucker was asked how the wide receiver room responded to Kubiak’s call out.
“We just come to work and do our job every day,” Tucker said. “We obviously have a lot of room for improvement. I was just telling Malik (Benson) that’s the beautiful thing about preseason. That you get these games. Come Week 1, anything that you have going on, you just get it out of the way because they obviously count.”
The preseason is the time for mistakes. But those mistakes won’t simply disappear just because games start to count in the standings.
“For us, we are just focused on the next task at hand,” Tucker continued. “I think the most important thing is, did we get better from the last game? Did we get better from the last practice? That’s what’s going to help us get to where we want to go this year.”
Unfortunately for Tucker, his head coach said the wide receivers took a step back. So they did not improve on the last game or practice.
Brock Bowers will be the top target in the passing game, and Tucker should be next in line for targets. But after those two, it is unclear where the Raiders will find production in the passing game.
Jalen Nailor is a new addition that could prove to be more than the fourth option he was in Minnesota. Second-year players Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton are looking to make a sophomore-season leap. Plus rookie Malik Benson could deliver on his training camp hype and produce immediately.
But all of those players are unproven. So far Kubiak is not impressed with how they have performed.
