Las Vegas Raiders: 5 players set to turn heads at 2021 training camp
The Las Vegas Raiders have lots of new faces on the roster and here are 5 players who are set to turn heads at training camp.
The Las Vegas Raiders made plenty of changes this offseason to the roster and these new faces will have plenty of opportunities to impress in training camp. There are also several holdovers from the 2020 roster that will get their chances early and often and will need to step up in a big way come to the end of the month.
Here are five players that we think will turn heads at training camp starting off with the big catch this offseason:
Las Vegas Raiders: 5 players set to turn heads at 2021 training camp
Yannick Ngakoue – Defensive End
The Raiders have been looking for a blue-chip pass rusher for a few years now and they seem to finally have one in defensive end Yannick Ngakoue. The former Jaguar/Viking/Raven signed a two-year deal with Las Vegas and he has been talking all offseason about how excited he is to don the silver and black.
He has spoken about what an honor it is to play for such a prestigious franchise and his excitement has translated to some impressive offseason work. Ngakoue posted on his Instagram page that he has been working hard and has bulked up to 258 lbs, 12 lbs more than his playing weight of 246 in 2020.
Ngakoue has always been a productive pass rusher but is clearly bulking up to improve at setting the edge as a run defender and this improvement could see him become a centerpiece of Gus Bradley’s defense. Bradley seems to prefer bigger defensive ends as seen with what he has done with Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram who are listed between 265-275lbs and are equally good against the run and pass.
We will get to see this improvement first hand at training camp as he and franchise LT Kolton Miller will be battling it out for weeks under the hot Nevada sun. Ngakoue is listed as the starting DE opposite Maxx Crosby and we will quickly see if he will be on the field primarily for passing situations or if the weight gain helps him be an every-down player.