The power of youth will be a force to be reckoned with when playing the Oakland Raiders this year. With nine draft picks in the 2019 NFL Draft and 12 rookies making the team in all, the Raiders have gotten much younger.
Typically young teams have a lot of growing pains, but the Raiders are hoping that most of that has been figured out on the practice field. The team’s young players will be carrying a large load right out of the gates.
With the preseason over and the regular season only a day away, head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock had some tough decisions to make trimming down the roster because of how well many young players performed.
Gruden expressed praise to his young team for making the decisions so tough on him and the front offfice, via Scott Blair of NBC Sports Bay Area:
“Getting out of the preseason healthy was a big goal we had,” Gruden said. “We got a lot accomplished on the practice field. We had a good few days against the Rams [in joint practices]. We saw the emergence of some young players. Our draft picks, and several players who weren’t drafted have a chance to make this team. We might have 12, 13, 14 rookies wearing the silver and black this year. We had to develop young players. I compliment the coaches and players for making that happen.”
One player who has impressed Gruden throughout the preseason was backup quarterback Nathan Peterman. Peterman joined the Raiders last fall after a disappointing two years with the Buffalo Bills. He suffered an injury in the final preseason game though so will begin the season on IR.
A lot of the drama surrounding the Raiders so far this year has been about Antonio Brown. Now that he is no longer with the organization though, the focus can shift towards building for the future.
