When the Las Vegas Raiders signed Jalen Nailor this offseason, it took a while for the fanbase to get on board. Things rapidly transitioned to excitement and expectations about the addition, but Nailor hasn't performed well enough that Raider Nation feels they were wrong for their initial premonitions.
But in Sunday's big win against the New York Jets, Nailor finally came to life. And Kirk Cousins knew that his breakout game was imminent, as he told reporters in the lead-up to Week 8 that Nailor was doing things right and essentially knocking on the door.
“When you watch the tape, you see him separating. I’ve told him, ‘You’re doing a lot of good things. We need to, I need to give you opportunities to make you right,’ if that makes sense," Cousins explained. "I think of a route he ran against the Bills late in the game, I overthrow him, but he’s winning. He’s separating. There were a couple other examples of that in the game on Sunday where you’re like, he’s winning, he's separating, he’s beating his guy. That’s all he can do. Then it’s our job to give him opportunities to make plays."
Well, Cousins was right.
Jalen Nailor had his best game yet for the Raiders' offense vs. Jets
4 catches on 4 targets for 38 yards and a touchdown might not seem like jaw-dropping production. And in a lot of ways, it isn't. But through the first seven weeks of the season (in which he missed 1.5 games due to injury), Nailor caught just 8 of his 20 targets for 75 yards and no touchdowns.
So, Sunday was his best performance by far, as he set season highs in both catches and yards, and he found the end zone for the first time. This was all despite playing a season-low in snaps, excluding Week 4, a game in which he left early because of a concussion.
And it wasn't just the fact that Nailor made catches; it was when he made those catches. On the first drive, he ran a nice dig route on 2nd-and-14 to make a 12-yard reception, which set the Raiders up for a manageable 3rd-and-2 after a penalty put them behind the sticks on first down.
Later on that drive, Nailor had a nice release off the line of scrimmage and ran a shallow crossing route on 3rd-and-3, which turned into a 12-yard gain and a fresh set of downs. Nailor had two pivotal catches on this possession, and it culminated in a Brock Bowers touchdown.
In the third quarter, on 3rd-and-7, Nailor got great separation on a deep dig route, making a nice move to shake free from his defender at the top of the route, and he hauled in a pass to move the chains. Just a few plays later, Cousins scored a touchdown on a quarterback sneak.
On 3rd-and-goal at the Jets' 2-yard line, Nailor had his biggest play of the day. He ran a delayed slant, which he sold incredibly well, and he went up and got the ball for a touchdown. This gave Las Vegas the lead in the fourth quarter, which it did not relinquish afterward.
Klint Kubiak was pleased with Jalen Nailor's showing (and Las Vegas needs more of it)
After that showing, Nailor obviously garnered some praise from his head coach in the post-game press conference. And Kubiak essentially echoed what Cousins had said about Nailor before the contest.
"What a great great job he did," Kubiak said. "To his credit, he's been working hard all week, all year, and hasn't had the opportunities. And he got opportunities today and made the most of them."
Kubiak had the same feeling when asked about Nailor again on Monday.
“He’s earned it in practice, too. Jalen’s put together some really good practices, and I’m not surprised by the game that he had. He’s deserving of more opportunities, and he made the most of his yesterday.”
Las Vegas needs Nailor to keep playing at this level, not just because it wants to get its money's worth with the free agent addition, but because they need someone at wide receiver to step up alongside Bowers, Michael Mayer and Tre Tucker. And even Tucker hasn't been that consistent.
Tucker got shut out of the box score on Sunday, as he was targeted just once and did not haul in the reception. Luckily, Nailor stepped up and came through for the Raiders on pivotal downs and in key situations. But he'll need to keep doing that if the team wants its offense to stay afloat.
Cousins could feel that a breakout game was coming for Nailor last week, and it did. Let's hope that he's feeling the same thing in the lead-up to another tough game against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 9.
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