Getty Oakland Raiders DT Eddie Vanderdoes
Things are starting to look up in Oakland for the Raiders. They added a serious amount of talent in the offseason and most signs of early returns are looking positive. The offense has been looking sharp and the offensive line looks much more improved. The wide receivers look unstoppable and Derek Carr is at the top of his games. Yes, it’s still just practice, but there seems to be more excitement surrounding this year’s Raiders than there was last year.
That being said, there have been more than a couple of disappointments. Training camp is the time to work out kinks so nothing should be too big of a concern. Below we’re going to go through the biggest disappointments of training camp.
Chris Warren III
Chris Warren III stole the hearts of Raiders fans everywhere when he lit up the 2018 preseason. Unfortunately, he never got a chance to show what he could do against real competition because he suffered an injury that kept him out for the entire season. The team brought him back to compete for a spot in 2019, but things didn’t go according to play. Apparently, he showed up to camp out of shape and wasn’t ready to work. Looks like one successful preseason got to his head. The Raiders cut him loose very early into camp and gone were any hopes that the team had a huge steal on their hands.
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Ronald Ollie
“Do I look like I can work for @Google?” – @RonaldOllie
Now, nobody expected Ronald Ollie to come in and be an instant star. That’s why he went undrafted. But man, he just had such a loveable personality that you couldn’t help but root for him. While there wasn’t anything he did wrong, he just failed to do anything impressive. He was cut early in camp. The Last Chance U star has enough star power to possibly get him a chance on another team. Despite the fact that he didn’t impress, he does have elite athletic traits. If he can figure out how to be more impactful, he could put together a solid NFL career.
Eddie Vanderdoes
Performance-wise, Vanderdoes hasn’t done anything wrong. The problem is, he hasn’t had a chance to do anything right. The often-injured defensive tackle has found himself injured for the majority of training camp. It has to be frustrating for him because he does have NFL talent. He just can’t stay on the field. He’s missed most of training camp with concussion symptoms and could be back soon. Fortunately for him, it’s not a lower-body injury, which is what has ailed him in the past.
Vanderdoes missed all of last season with an injury and the Raiders now have a crowded defensive line. Even though he was a former third-round pick, the team can’t hold a spot for him if he’s never going to play. It’s obviously out of his control, but if he can’t get healthy, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll be on the final 53-man roster.
Players Not Standing Out
Not standing out isn’t as bad as standing out in a negative way. However, in training camp, it’s important to stand out if you’re going to get playing time. Arden Key is a player that’s been hyped up since getting drafted by the team last year. He hasn’t really done much to warrant that hype as he only got one sack in 2018 and his name rarely comes up in camp. He’s made some plays in the run game, but it doesn’t seem like he’s getting to the quarterback much.
The most notable thing that has happened with P.J. Hall is that he got absolutely blown up by Trent Brown on a play. Other than that, there has been almost no word on his development. No news is bad news for the former second-round pick. He’s not in danger of getting cut due to his high draft selection just last year, but he’s going to need to start making plays if he’s going to get playing time in a crowded defensive line. Fortunately for the Raiders, there haven’t been too many disappointments. Any of the players mentioned that are still on the roster have plenty of time to turn things around and start making an impact.
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