Getty Los Angeles Chargers defensive lineman Jerry Tillery.
The Kansas City Chiefs worked the waivers with no success on Monday, November 14. The defending AFC West champions were one of eight teams that put in a claim for former Los Angeles Chargers defensive lineman Jerry Tillery. The 2-7 Las Vegas Raiders were the team that was assigned Tillery, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Eight teams – Las Vegas, Detroit, Carolina, Indianapolis, San Francisco, New York Jets, New York Giants, and Kansas City – put in waiver claims for former Chargers’ first-round pick Jerry Tillery, who was assigned to the Raiders.
The other teams that put a claim in for Tillery were the Detroit Lions, Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, and New York Giants, according to Schefter.
Tillery, 26, was a first-round pick — 28th overall — of the Chargers in 2019. After three and a half seasons with the Chargers Tillery’s production still hadn’t met expectations, which is why Los Angeles opted to waive him on November 10.
With that being said: There’s a reason why one-fourth of the league put a claim in for Tillery. He still has traits that previously made him a first-round pick. But he needs to be paired with a coaching staff that can get the most out of him, and more importantly, get it out of him consistently. That coaching staff may or may not exist in the NFL, but the Raiders are going to try.
Twitter Reacts to Raiders Winning Claim
Twitter users reacted to the news of the Raiders being the team to win the claim for Tillery over seven other teams.
“What about his NFL career makes him an attractive addition to a team? Worst WAR by a DT since entering the league and it’s not like he’s some sort of athletic freak prototype,” Jack Kennedy of Barstool Sports wrote.
“With Armstead and Kinlaw still out, the #49ers tried to make a move to bolster the line. Raiders got Tillery, though,” 49ers Webzone wrote.
“Saints don’t need defensive interior help anyway. They’re just fine stopping the run. I get it,” another user wrote.
“I’m not saying Tillery is a stud but for the #Browns to not even try to claim him seeing what’s going in, is crazy,” Jeff Lloyd of Locked On Browns wrote.
Isiah Pacheco Shines as Chiefs’ RB1
Week 10 marked the first time in which Chiefs rookie running back Isiah Pacheco was unquestionably the RB1 in Kansas City.
Against Jacksonville, Pacheco ran 16 times for 82 yards — an efficient 5.1 yards per carry. Pacheco also had a fumble that was recovered by Jacksonville inside their own red zone on Kansas City’s first offensive possession. Yet, no other back on the team carried the ball more than 1 time other than Pacheco (Jerick McKinnon had 1 rush for 2 yards, Michael Burton had 1 rush for -1 yards), which showed the coaching staff’s dedication to giving touches to Pacheco.
It was overall a great outing for Pacheco, who is making a name for himself as a member of one of the NFL’s best teams just months after going undrafted.
After the game, quarterback Patrick Mahomes spoke highly of Pacheco’s performance against the Jaguars.
“Yeah, he stepped up and had a big game,” Mahomes said during his press conference on November 13.” I mean especially – you like to see guys respond – I mean he was running the ball really well in that first drive and had the fumble. Some guys can shut it down and we kind of went right back to him (and) let him keep running it and he stepped up.
“It’s a great running back room. We’ve got a lot of guys that play well and when the offensive line’s protecting like they were doing today and run blocking like they were that makes our team really, really hard to stop.”