The Las Vegas Raiders are now over a week into their off time between the end of the offseason program and training camp. Some position battles are looming for camp, even if most eyes will be on rookie Fernando Mendoza and how his snaps are being allocated between the starters and backups.
Las Vegas' new coaching staff will also try to carry what they learned from offseason work into actual football practice with pads on. Some players simply can't show the full extent of what they can do in "shorts and shells" the same way they can in training camp, when contact is finally allowed.
Coming out of OTAs and minicamp, these five Raiders are lined up to be under a lot of pressure the moment everyone reconvenes for training camp.
5 Las Vegas Raiders who are under serious pressure after OTAs
Dont'e Thornton Jr.
It feels aggressive to mention Thornton Jr. in regard to the roster bubble. But with rookie Malik Benson and others seemingly poised to make a serious push for a spot on the 53-man roster during camp, Thornton Jr. will have to ward off plenty of competition. Within that, he may have to show he can provide value on special teams after playing zero snaps in that phase of the game as a rookie.
If Thornton doesn't clearly assert himself as the Raiders' WR4 during camp, his fit on the roster will quickly become tenuous with special teams as a differentiator he doesn't obviously possess.
Dylan Laube
There was a lot of positivity around Laube during OTAs, which is certainly better than the alternative as he tries to impress a new coaching staff. But his path to a prominent spot on the depth chart behind Ashton Jeanty has been clogged up by the additions of rookies Mike Washington and Roman Hemby. So, he will have to stand out when the pads come on in camp.
Laube's path to a roster spot is clearly via special teams, and his "four-phase" versatility there seems to make him a virtual lock. But he should also feel some pressure to turn the offseason hype into something meaningful this time around, or that seemingly assured spot on the 53-man roster may turn toward iffy.
OG/C Jordan Meredith
Moved to center, where he had hardly played in his life, Meredith was done no favors by last year's coaching staff. The results, of course, were predictably bad. He offers valuable versatility, with the ability (at least theoretically) to play all three interior line spots.
But rookie Trey Zuhn is even more versatile and there are only so many backup offensive line spots.
With reference to how snaps were delegated during OTAs and minicamp, Sam Warren of The Athletic led his list of Raiders' players whose stock is down heading toward training camp with Meredith.
"Meredith and Will Putnam split snaps at center with the second team during OTAs and mandatory minicamp. Putnam, an undrafted free agent signed in 2024, saw his first NFL reps and starts last year when injuries moved Meredith to guard. While Meredith sat squarely ahead of Putnam on the 2025 depth chart, the two appear to be competing under a new coaching staff.
"Meredith has positional versatility, but the Raiders also bulked up at guard by signing Spencer Burford and drafting Trey Zuhn III. While Meredith re-signed with Las Vegas this offseason on his free agent tender, it looks like he has some work to do in training camp to stick around."
Splitting second-team snaps with Will Putnam during offseason work can be seen as a simple attempt by the new coaching staff to get a better feel for what they have in terms of offensive line depth. But it's also not a great sign for Meredith as he moves toward a real battle for a roster spot during camp.
Decamerion Richardson
At 6-foot-2 and nearly 190 pounds, Richardson is cut from the cloth Pete Carroll prefers in cornerbacks. But that potential breakthrough never came anywhere close to materializing last season, as he played just 13 defensive snaps over 15 games, all of which came in Week 18.
That he wasn't able to usurp Kyu Blu Kelly in particular is a red flag, and even after Kelly's season-ending injury, Richardson didn't see defensive snaps until the regular season finale.
But on the other hand, the Carroll-led coaching staff made a lot of miscalculations about who did or did not deserve playing time. In theory, Richardson is another player who has a welcome clean slate under a new coaching staff.
After ending Jermod McCoy's draft fall with the first pick on Day 3 of April's draft, the Raiders added another cornerback in Round 5 when they took Hezekiah "Zeke" Masses.
So Richardson has a steep climb to earning a notable defensive role, or even a roster spot, as numbers games at other positions come into play. He simply may have a hard time getting enough meaningful work during camp to get noticed.
Richardson may need a change of scenery if he's ever going to reach his potential. But he's in line to start training camp in Las Vegas, with pressure to take advantage of whatever opportunities he gets.
Tommy Eichenberg
Warren also had Eichenberg among the Raiders whose stock is falling coming out of OTAs, as Cody Lindenberg appears to have seized the LB3 role behind Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean. Dean's fairly mysterious absence from the practice field during offseason work created an opportunity for someone, and Lindenberg clearly stepped up.
Dealing with an injury early in OTAs hurt Eichenberg in his early effort to seize a more prominent spot in a refurbished linebacking corps. But that he remained behind Lindenberg even after he was healthy is telling.
The role Eichenberg has had on special teams stands to go a long way toward keeping him around. But he is moving toward the roster bubble in a way no one could've really expected, and he has to turn that trend around during training camp.
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