Oakland Raiders: Five dark horse players to make the 2014 roster

Jun 17, 2014; Alameda, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Matt Schaub (8) at minicamp at Raiders Practice Facility. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Every year a handful of players come out of the woodwork to impress their team’s coaching staff enough to crack the 53 man roster heading into Week One of the National Football League season. Whether that player was overlooked, underrated, or just simply beat out a player with a better resume, the underdogs of the league that take their opportunity in preseason and convert it into a roster spot are often the heroes of July/August as it is one of the best parts of the regular season buildup in watching players on the fringe earn their right to play on Sundays.

Several current Raiders have obviously been in this position before becoming more household names on the Silver and Black. Rod Streater was an undrafted rookie before he became the Raiders best wideout in 2013, same for last year’s standout Andre Holmes who played so impressively in Training Camp and 2013 Preseason the Raiders overlooked a four game suspension to keep him around full time. Even 2013 undrafted free agent Matt McGloin’s preseason performances led to an unexpected starting quarterback job later on in the season, which goes to show that nearly anybody at training camp can climb the depth chart if they impress the coaches enough.

With that being said, here are five Oakland Raiders that could potentially come out of the woods and crack the team’s 53 man roster come Week One of the 2014 NFL season.