Oakland Raiders: End of Preseason Thoughts

Aug 12, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio and quarterback Derek Carr (4) against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 12, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio and quarterback Derek Carr (4) against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 5
Next
Aug 12, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oakland Raiders linebacker Ben Heeney (50), defensive end Greg Townsend Jr. (94), defensive tackle Leon Orr (93), defensive lineman Denico Autry (96) and long snapper Jon Condo (59) against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 12, 2016; Glendale, AZ, USA; Oakland Raiders linebacker Ben Heeney (50), defensive end Greg Townsend Jr. (94), defensive tackle Leon Orr (93), defensive lineman Denico Autry (96) and long snapper Jon Condo (59) against the Arizona Cardinals during a preseason game at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports /

Thoughts on the Oakland Raiders before their last preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks and after their first round of cuts.

The dreaded “Turk” swathed his way through 14 NFL careers in the late Oakland night, into the morning. The Raiders made their first wave of cuts to get to the league-mandated 75 players by 4 pm today, and as our intrepid analyst Nick Hjeltness points out in this article on JBB, there were few surprises.

Now, the Raiders have one more preseason game to gauge the remaining 75 players and decide who is worthy of the last 53. Again, our man Nick has outlined his thoughts on the final roster here. As you can see, he was pretty bang-on in his assessment of the first round of cuts.

As Nick and our editor, Chase Ruttig, have done a great job breaking down the Raiders potential final roster, I won’t bother. Instead, I’ll turn my eye to things of interest as the games soon turn from meaningless to meaningful.

Enter the fourth. As in fourth preseason game. We well know the fourth preseason game isn’t exactly McGregor – Diaz III in terms of scale or hype. It is, however, quite important to fringe players who don’t want to go home after months of hard work. And to the uber die-hard fans looking for the next Spurgeon Wynn.

Aside from the final roster, there are other things the Raiders are looking to solidify as preseason winds to a close and the games begin to count. Like their backup running back.

Next: WHO BACKS UP MURRAY?