53-man Roster Prediction: Special Teams
The Special Teams Unit: Sebastian Janikowski, Marquette King, Jon Condo, Andrew East, Giorgio Tavecchio.
As mentioned earlier, there are many players who are listed at their official position, but would be key special teams contributors. Such as any player who returns kicks and/or punts, and also players like Bates, Toomer and Trawick, who are considered core special teams players.
First Cut: None.
Both East and Tavecchio get to hang around for the preseason, to give Condo and Seabass some added rest.
Second Cut: East, Tavecchio.
East was signed as a safety precaution, as Condo has dealt with some injuries. But Condo should be good to go, leaving no room for East on the roster.
Tavecchio isn’t going to be out Janikowski for the job, so get that thought out of your system. He’ll hang around though, just to kick in the preseason, which will lead to some speculation amongst the fanbase.
I repeat: Tavecchio isn’t going to be out Janikowski for the job.
Who makes the team: Janikowski, King, Condo.
The three mainstays will all make the roster — no surprise there.
Janikowski is up there in age and a replacement will be needed soon. It won’t be Tavecchio, though. If he was good enough, a different NFL team would have already employed him, instead of him just showing up to Raiders camp and to kick in preseason games.
Condo is getting up there in age as well, and he’s dealt with some injuries recently. So that does make the presence of Andrew East interesting. Condo should be good for the job at least this year, but it could be East’s job in the future.
King is signed through 2020, thanks to a big extension he signed in February.
To avoid confusion, I listed other special teams players at their listed position — but Mickens can be mentioned here as a KR/PR, and Bates and Trawick can be mentioned here as well, as their primary role will be contribution on special teams.
Next: 53-man Roster Prediction: Full Roster