John Spytek tirelessly turns over the bottom of the Las Vegas Raiders' roster in an attempt to find a gem that can help out in any of the game's three phases. Before training camp began, he brought in a crop of eight veteran players for workouts, and he ended up signing three of them right away.
The headline of that jumble of roster moves was the waiving of fan-favorite defensive tackle Laki Tasi, so veteran defensive end Patrick Johnson was a mere footnote. Of the three players that the Raiders signed, he wasn't even the one that fans were most excited about; wideout Deven Thompkins was.
But Johnson quickly made his presence known during Las Vegas' first preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals, notching a handful of solid plays on both special teams and on defense. His hopes are suddenly very much alive to make the Silver and Black's 53-man roster.
DE Patrick Johnson showed out in Raiders' first preseason game
Johnson was active in his 26 defensive snaps, tallying six tackles, four of which were solo, a sack and two quarterback hits. He made three run stops against Arizona, and his pass-rush win rate of 10.0% was the fourth-best on the team, even if it wasn't an elite mark.
His sack came early in the third quarter on backup Cardinals quarterback Gardner Minshew, which means a lot more than one that came later in the ballgame on a rookie or third-stringer. Johnson made multiple moves and didn't give up on the play to bring Minshew down.
He also played 10 snaps on special teams split across five different units -- kick return and coverage, punt return and coverage and field goal block -- and he made one tackle while running down on punt coverage.
Performing well in multiple phases of the game is always critical for players trying to sneak onto the active roster. And for as well as fellow defensive end Cian Slone played during the preseason opener, Johnson outdid him on special teams. That's a big feather in his cap.
All told, Johnson notched the highest PFF grade on the Raiders' roster last Thursday by a solid margin, as well as the best pass-rush grade and the fifth-best special teams mark. For a player hovering in relative obscurity before the contest, that is quite the impression to make.
Landing on the 53-man team will still be an uphill climb for Johnson, as the defensive end room in Las Vegas has a lot of players locked in. But if he keeps stacking performances like the one he had against the Cardinals, this low-profile Raiders signing may build a résumé that gets him a job.
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