On Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders will kick off their 2023 preseason schedule against the San Francisco 49ers. As we approach the start of the three-game slate heading into the regular season, we should see numerous Raiders step up, while others will fade away and be left off the 2023 53-man roster entering Week 1 against Denver.
Here is our latest 53-man roster projection entering the Raiders first preseason game.
Raiders 53-man roster projection heading into 2023 preseason opener
Quarterbacks (3): Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer, Aidan O'Connell
No big surprises here, as Jimmy Garoppolo has come in and put his stamp on the team in his first summer with the Raiders. Garoppolo has a certain swagger about him that the position has been missing, and now that he is healthy, you have to be excited about what he will be able to do within this offense.
Brian Hoyer will serve as the No. 2 for the Raiders, and Aidan O'Connell will be on the 53-man roster as the No. 3 quarterback. O'Connell has looked outstanding this summer, and is learning a lot from Jimmy G and Hoyer, which should prep him for his future in the league.
Running Backs (4): Zamir White, Ameer Abdullah, Damien Williams, Jakob Johnson
We are going to assume that Josh Jacobs does not return to the Raiders in this scenario, but if he does, we will update the 53-man roster projection. Right now, it is clear that Zamir White will be the team's starting running back, and we will get to see how he handles that during the preseason.
It gets interesting behind White, as Ameer Abdullah and Brandon Bolden appeared to be locks to make the roster, but Damien Williams now makes that interesting. Jakob Johnson will return as fullback, and I believe Williams, fresh off a Super Bowl win, eeks out Bolden for a roster spot.