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Oakland Raiders: Final Cuts Prediction

By Nick Hjeltness

Oct 25, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Taiwan Jones (22) runs with the ball in the game San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Oakland won 37-29. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Taiwan Jones (22) runs with the ball in the game San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Oakland won 37-29. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Predicting the final cuts for the Oakland Raiders as the Silver and Black near the roster deadline.

The Oakland Raiders preseason is officially in the books.

After an impressive debut victory over the Arizona Cardinals, Oakland went on to drop three straight games, to finish the preseason 1-3.

The regular season kicks off on September 11th, at 10:00am PST, on the road against the New Orleans Saints.

The final cut deadline for all NFL teams to get their rosters down to 53 players is September 3rd, at 4:00pm EST.

Here is my prediction for final cuts:

  • (RB) George Atkinson III
  • (LB) Daren Bates
  • (G) Mitch Bell
  • (WR) K.J. Brent
  • (CB) Kenneth Durden
  • (WR) Marvin Hall
  • (CB) Antonio Hamilton
  • (DL) Drew Iddings
  • (DE) Branden Jackson
  • (RB) Taiwan Jones
  • (G) Denver Kirkland
  • (DT) Derrick Lott
  • (LB) John Lotulelei
  • (OT) Matt McCants
  • (S) Dewey McDonald
  • (TE) Jake McGee
  • (WR) Jaydon Mickens
  • (TE) Ryan O’Malley
  • (G) Oni Omoile
  • (DE) Greg Townsend
  • (LB) Kyrie Wilson

This brings the team down to 54 players. Marcel Reece will join Aldon Smith on the “Reserve/Suspended by Commissioner” list, and that will get the team down to 53 players.

One change that could happen is if Mario Edwards Jr. is placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list, he would miss the first six games of the season, and that would open up a roster spot. Since Austin Howard was injured in the preseason finale, while it doesn’t seem severe, I’ll say Edwards’ spot would go to McCants.

Ten players will end up making the practice squad. While all ten may not be Raiders cuts, as Reggie McKenzie could poach from other team’s cuts, but that is too hard of a scenario to predict, so we’ll just use players that Oakland released to project the practice squad.

(RB) Atkinson III, (WR) Brent, (WR) Mickens, (G) Omoile, (G) Kirkland, (DE) Iddings, (DE) Jackson, (LB) Wilson, (CB) Hamilton, (S) Hackett.

For Atkinson, he may not have practice squad eligibility left. The rules are a little tricky, and some of them have changed recently. If he doesn’t, the team will certainly look for a different back to place on the practice squad.

The team may not want to carry two WR’s on the practice squad, and they probably would want one guard and one tackle as opposed to two guards. If that’s the case, Mickens and Omoile would likely be replaced with players released by other teams — an offensive and a defensive tackle.

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