HENDERSON, Nev.-If the chippy behavior between Maxx Crosby and Kirk Cousins at the tail end of Friday’s practice was any indication, the intensity of the competition at training camp is emulating the Las Vegas summer: heating up quickly.
While the quarterback picture has held steady throughout the first week, several positions have seen some shifts in that timespan. The battle at the cornerback position between Darien Porter and Hezekiah Masses has been well-documented, but other players have started to make their push into the first unit. Jackson Powers-Johnson and Caleb Rogers have started to rotate at right guard, while rookie Treydan Stukes has started to get some run as a deep safety.
“I mean this honestly, I’m not really married to any position,” Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said on the open competitions occurring at multiple roster spots. “We’re a new staff here. We’re trying to establish something and there’s got to be competition everywhere. We’ll just sit here and let the tape reveal itself.”
Getting his opportunity has been a boon for Stukes, who has needed a moment like this to get some much-needed momentum.
Stacking positive days has quickly become a theme for a secondary loaded with youth, but has shown plenty of promise over the past week. Along with Stukes, Masses has pushed for an expanded role throughout training camp, putting pressure on the sophomore Porter to perform at a high level. Fellow draft picks in Jermod McCoy and Dalton Johnson have also made plays, while undrafted safety Devin Lafayette was spotted with the second team for some reps.
“I think we have a really fun rookie class,” said Stukes about his fellow rookies.
“I think we got a lot of talented guys in that room and I think every single day, you can just tell that everyone is stacking reps and getting more comfortable in their spots and learning nuances of their position rather than just trying to learn the scheme like we were in the summer.”
“I think [passing game coordinator] Joe Woods and [safeties coach] Matt [Robinson] are doing a great job with our DBs,” added Kubiak about the secondary. “We have a lot of guys making plays on the ball right now. It’s very competitive.”
While the secondary has pushed to improve, the process has not been made easy by head coach Klint Kubiak and the offensive coaching staff.
Something that has jumped off the page over the last set of practices has been how the targets are spread out among the receivers. Cousins has not limited himself to Brock Bowers, but built his connection up with Tre Tucker and even had some success with Michael Mayer and Malik Benson, the latter of which got an opportunity with the first team due to Jalen Nailor’s absence and Dont’e Thornton Jr. exiting early. Fernando Mendoza was also busy spacing out the offense, finding the likes of Ian Thomas and Brandon Johnson to keep the defense on their heels.
“I think that’s what you want, right? You want the targets to get spread around,” said Mayer about the offense’s willingness to give everyone touches.
“I think that’s how you move the ball down the field. I think that’s how you confuse defenses. You don’t know where you’re really going to go with it. I think it’s going to be interesting when we’re in there in 12 personnel, we’re going to see.”
With the offense continuing to click, pressure has shifted on the defensive line to continue getting after the ball.
Such was evident throughout the day, and really throughout the entirety of training camp. Crosby continued to impress by interfering with Cousins and forcing an interception by Jeremy Chinn, and both Adam Butler and Tonka Hemingway have put pressure from the interior. Even the third unit got involved in the action, with late free-agent pickup Patrick Johnson and undrafted free agent Jahfari Harvey getting a good rep in against Aidan O’Connell.
“I think just more of having real conversations on what we like,” said edge rusher Malcolm Koonce.
“[Butler] might like something, Tonka might like something, Maxx might like something, I might like something. Just kind of like the defense not being this blackboard thing and just kind of being this thing that kind of fits like water.”
While Kubiak has insisted that all of the moving parts are indicative of a larger plan, it will not be long until the first preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals invariably reveals a bit more about what the plan looks like.