The Oakland Raiders are rolling with some young players at kicker, punter, and long-snapper in 2019, and they will be better off for it.
Last season, the Oakland Raiders spent weeks trying to find their kicker, before landing Daniel Carlson as a free agent in late October. Since then, Carlson has been the unquestioned leader of the Raiders special teams unit, drilling field goal after field goal, while going perfect in his extra point tries.
To say that Carlson was a god send would be an understatement, as he has continued his strong play this summer for the Raiders. His holder from last season, punter Johnny Townsend, was cut by the team earlier this month, clearing the way for undrafted free agent rookie A.J. Cole to take over punting, and holding duties in 2019.
For Cole, his ascension up the Raiders depth chart as punter was a fast one, as he proved to not only have a solid leg, but incredible touch with his kicks. He is a guy that is going to be counted on to improve the Raiders field possession battles, as Townsend really struggled as a rookie for the team this past season.
Staying with the youth movement, as Carlson is only 24 and Cole is 23, the Raiders have decided to roll the dice on Trent Sieg as their long snapper in 2019. Sieg, who took over for the injured Andrew DePaola last season, beat out the veteran this summer, which was a surprise considering the Raiders signed DePaola to a record-setting contract last spring.
Like Carlson, Sieg is only 24 years old.
For all the talk of Jon Gruden not liking young players, he is certainly putting his faith in three guys who have yet to turn 25. Carlson is proven at the NFL level, and Sieg did a nice job in relief of DePaola last season, but Cole will have to prove his success can translate from the preseason to the regular season.
Overall, this is a Raiders team that is much improved over last season, and the feeling is that confidence is growing on daily basis inside the building. Carlson was automatic for Oakland last season, and has been this summer, as the Raiders have finally found their successor to the great Sebastian Janikowski.