The Las Vegas Raiders brought in plenty of new faces to the building this offseason, as new general manager John Spytek was locked in step with head coach Pete Carroll on their vision to add competition throughout the roster.
Perhaps no position group's players faced a steeper battle than those in the wide receiver room, as in addition to Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker and three rookie draft picks, the Raiders also signed a handful of notable veterans like Marquez Callaway, Phillip Dorsett, Collin Johnson and Kyle Philips.
This made life difficult for embattled veteran Alex Bachman, who has been an end-of-roster player throughout his career. He's always flashed in the preseason, leaving fans wondering why he cannot carve out a role. On Sunday, however, he did just that.
Alex Bachman's punt return prowess may be the jolt he needed
Despite his strong play as a slot receiver during the preseason and his general skills as a punt and kick coverage player, Bachman ended up on the practice squad yet again this season. With Amari Cooper entering the fold, Bachman just hadn't stood out on offense enough to make the team.
Even after Cooper's sudden retirement, Bachman remained on the practice squad to begin the year. He was activated on gameday for two of the first four contests, but was eventually signed to the active roster ahead of Week 5 amid a string of serious injuries.
In Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, Bachman finally made his presence felt, and he did so without a single target, catch or special teams tackle. Instead, he stood out as a punt returner, fielding three punts and garnering 47 return yards, including two returns of 25 and 18 yards.
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Bachman has proven that he is too crafty and talented for the team to neglect finding a way for him to make an impact. Returning punts could be his niche, as he also had a solid eight-yard return last week. For those counting, that is four punt returns for 55 yards, an average of 13.8 per return.
By contrast, Tre Tucker's five punt returns in the first four contests went for just 45 yards, and his longest return was just 15 yards. Bachman eclipsed that number twice in just three returns on Sunday against the Titans.
Tucker and Jeanty are both too valuable to the offense to stick back on punt returns, and Dylan Laube is better suited to return kicks. That leaves a glaring hole in the punt return game for Bachman to fill, so the Raiders must continue to utilize this obvious way to get Bachman more involved.