The Las Vegas Raiders signed Tyler Lockett to a free agent deal after their Week 8 bye. The move was hardly a surprise, as he became the latest former Seattle Seahawk to join the team since Pete Carroll took over as head coach.
While he was not productive at all during his seven-game stint with the Tennessee Titans earlier in the 2025 NFL season, the Raiders were hoping that reuniting him with Geno Smith would provide the offense with a spark.
The downside of the move was that it would clearly take playing time away from rookie wide receivers Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr. That was the case on Sunday, as Thornton Jr. was a healthy scratch for the first time this season, while Bech's 12 snaps all came on special teams.
Pete Carroll shares why Dont'e Thonrton Jr. was a healthy scratch
Thornton Jr. has seen his playing time fluctuate this season; however, he was active for each of the Raiders' first seven games. After leaving the young wideout inactive for the first time in his young career, Carroll discussed his decision in his post-game presser, and he made a lame excuse.
"I wanted to see what Tyler (Lockett) would do. I wanted to get him on the field, see what would happen, and it's his spot," Carroll said. "So, because of special teams or not enough contributions, he had to go down on this one. That's just one week. We'll see what happens next week."
Carroll also shut down a follow-up question about whether or not Lockett had shown enough in practice to deserve to play so quickly after joining the team. The veteran wideout did not contribute in the passing game, as his lone target came on second-and-goal, and the pass was broken up.
Lockett was once again targeted on a two-point conversion attempt in overtime, as he was wide open in the back of the end zone. Smith's pass, however, was batted down at the line of scrimmage, which was the final play in the 30-29 loss.
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In fairness, neither Lockett nor Thornton plays special teams, which is why having Alex Bachman active makes sense. But there has to be another veteran player on the roster who can afford to be inactive so that Thornton can continue trying to learn on the job, and the coaching staff should have prepared him to play special teams as a fourth-round rookie.
While Lockett did have a nice block on Ashton Jeanty's receiving touchdown in the fourth quarter, the decision to essentially sideline two rookies to play Lockett remains baffling. The Raiders are now just 2-6, and the focus should clearly be on developing their young talent.
Despite it being obvious that the franchise should have an eye on the future, Jeanty remains the only member of Las Vegas' 11-player rookie class who has been able to carve out a consistent role on either offense or defense.
Thornton Jr. played just 3.3% of the offensive snaps in Week 6, followed by a career-high 85.7% of the offensive snaps the following week in Jakobi Meyers' absence. Now, however, he has seemingly been relegated to the bench for as long as Lockett is on the team.
Carroll has been clear about his desire to win now, which should not be a surprise because he is the oldest coach in NFL history. It is evident, however, that the roster is not built to turn things around in 2025, and he should not prioritize his interests over what is best for the Raiders in the long term.