Four things we learned after Week 1 of Raiders OTA’s
By Evan Groat
Four things we learned about the Oakland Raiders following the opening week of their offseason activities.
The Oakland Raiders completed the first three days of volunteer organized team activities last week. The players were given the weekend off and will return to the practice field Tuesday. While it’s still very early on in the process, fans are always looking to gain as much information as possible.
Let’s take a look at four things we’ve learned after the opening week of OTA’s.
Rookies Will Have To Earn Their Stripes
This doesn’t come as a surprise because it’s been a theme since Jack Del Rio took the helm, but the newest crop of rookies will have to earn their stripes. Even the higher drafted picks, such as first-round selection Gareon Conley, weren’t getting first team reps. He, like the rest of the class, will have to pay their dues.
Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area tweeted this out during Tuesday’s workout, which was open to the media:
Raiders like starting rookies on lower teams, even highly touted ones. Conley's a 3rd team CB, 2nd team slot CB today. Stripes are earned.
— Scott Bair (@ScottBairNFL) May 23, 2017
Not to worry, Raider Nation, as this change will come in September. Conley will play his way into a big-time role in this secondary.
Del Rio has given high praise to the team’s first-round pick, saying that he is “very gifted, he’s got a great demeanor”. Del Rio also went on to compare Conley to Amari Cooper, in terms of how both players take football very seriously. Jack also noted that Conley is a quick learner, and that he picks things up very quickly. Those are all things you want to hear about the first-round draft pick.
Fellow rookies Obi Melifonwu, Eddie Vanderdoes and Marquel Lee all could carve out key roles at some point this season. And even David Sharpe could end up in the mix at the right tackle spot. But these jobs will not be handed out over the summer time, they’ll have to earn them.