The Las Vegas Raiders have decided to keep the wide receiver room pretty light right now. After carrying six wide receivers on the active roster for much of last season, the team currently only has four wide receivers on the active roster and it doesn’t appear they’ll be changing that as they rely on practice squad players. The team released rookie wide receiver Dillon Stoner last week after a brief stint on the active roster.
His time in free agency didn’t last very long as the Raiders announced that they signed him back to the practice squad. In order to make room for Stoner, the team released wide receiver Jeff Badet. He was a notable signing due to his 4.27 40-yard dash speed but he never had the chance to see the field for the Raiders.
Stoner was activated for Sunday’s game against the Washington Football Team but only played four special teams snaps with no offensive snaps. The Raiders clearly like him as evident by the fact that they brought him back after cutting him. However, he’s still got a long way to go before he becomes an everyday player.
ALL the latest Raiders news straight to your inbox! Subscribe to the Heavy on Raiders newsletter here!
DeSean Jackson’s Role Remains Inconsistent
GettyLas Vegas Raiders WR DeSean Jackson.
Against the Dallas Cowboys, it looked like the Raiders finally figured out how to best utilize DeSean Jackson. He had three catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. Instead of building off that performance, Las Vegas only played him on 41% of offensive snaps and quarterback Derek Carr targeted him one time.
That doesn’t mean that Jackson wasn’t open. In fact, early in the game, the veteran wide receiver was wide open but Carr didn’t throw it to him. The quarterback had a chance to explain the play after the game.
“As I stepped up, DeSean was running a deep cross, and I just couldn’t see the nickel linebacker,” Carr said Sunday. “I’m not going to throw a ball blind, get back to the sideline like, ‘Gosh, dang it, there was one.’ Besides that, they were trying to stay on top as best as they could.”
Raiders Need to Start Being More Aggressive
At the end of the day, Carr’s rationale for not throwing to Jackson isn’t great. He admits that he saw him but got cold feet because he couldn’t see the nickel linebacker. At a certain point, Carr and the team need to be more aggressive at a consistent rate. They were very aggressive against the Cowboys and it paid off in a big way. For whatever reason, that aggression didn’t carry over to the game against Washington.
Carr isn’t the only one guilty of playing a little too safe in recent weeks. Interim head coach Rich Bisaccia has been allergic to making aggressive decisions since taking over. According to EDJ Sports, he was responsible for the second and third-worst coaching decisions this week on fourth-and-short punts near midfield.
Nobody expects Bisaccia to go for it on fourth down every time but he needs to be aggressive every once in a while. That fact that he’s not willing to be is a big reason owner Mark Davis likely won’t be bringing him back next season.
READ NEXT: Jack Del Rio Has Strong Words for Raiders QB Derek Carr
Raiders Sign Recently Released Rookie WR, Cut Speedster to Make Room