5 Oakland Raiders on the bubble entering the final preseason game
By Matt Holder
Nick Nelson, CB
The damage may have already been done in regards to Nick Nelson’s roster status with the Raiders. In the preseason, the cornerback has allowed 10 receptions on 12 targets and a quarterback rating of 123.3 when targeted. Keisean Nixon’s emergence (15 targets, five receptions allowed), might just be the nail in the coffin for Nelson.
The former Wisconsin Badger was only active for nine games last season, so he doesn’t have a lot of NFL film. Also, last year’s tape isn’t much better than this preseason’s. If Nick Nelson is going to land on another team’s roster, it is imperative that the young defensive back performs well on Thursday.
The bottom line is, this is a Raiders roster that has so much more talent than it did a summer ago, which means Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock have a tough weekend ahead of them. There are veterans that were brought in to be on this team that may not even make the cuts, while some undrafted rookies have come out of nowhere to be some of the better Raiders we have seen this summer.