The Las Vegas Raiders have learned a lot about themselves during the first two preseason games. OTAs, minicamp and training camp are all great, but nothing truly matters until the pads come on and the lights get bright.
Preseason football is a far cry from a regular season NFL game, but these contests are still a great way for positional battles to sort themselves out and for coaches to get a better indication of how all their new pieces fit together.
Pete Carroll has played the team's stars sparingly, but several starters and key players have gotten significant run during the first two contests. Heading into the preseason finale on Saturday, there is no clear indication of how much the starters will play, but two reporters think they have a good idea.
Raiders' key starters unlikely to play in preseason finale against Cardinals
On Thursday, the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore said that, while he was unsure how much the starters would play, there was a strong sense that "a bunch of key players will get on the field."
Jesse Merrick of the Silver & Black Sports Network corroborated this, predicting that Geno Smith and the top players are unlikely to see the field, but Carroll has remained steadfast that everyone will be live and ready to go.
To me, this means that the top echelon of Raiders players is unlikely to play much in Saturday's matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, but it will not be purely backups. Stars like Smith, Maxx Crosby, Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty, Jakobi Meyers, Adam Butler and Kolton Miller should all sit.
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However, low-end starters or less established players like Tre Tucker, Dont'e Thornton Jr., and even Eric Stokes and Elandon Roberts could all play. Almost every young player or those in a heated position battle should be playing as well, including Jackson Powers-Johnson and Alex Cappa.
This will be a great opportunity for Raider Nation to see fan favorites like Dylan Laube, Amari Gainer and Laki Tasi get extended run, and rookie quarterback Cam Miller should take a majority of the snaps under center on Saturday as well.
Nothing is ever set in stone with Coach Carroll, but conventional wisdom, combined with the words of two beat writers, would indicate that the top players will sit, but it will not be exclusively second and third-string players.