Speed shouldn’t be an issue for the Las Vegas Raiders this season at wide receiver. The team is bringing back Tre Tucker and signed Lideatrick Griffin as an undrafted free agent, and both players can run.
The Raiders didn’t stop adding speed there. The team announced on May 6 that they’ve signed former Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Jalen Guyton.
Guyton spent the last five seasons with the Chargers after initially signing with the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2019. His best seasons came in 2020 and 2021 when he had 511 receiving yards and then 448 receiving yards.
However, he’s fallen off over the past two seasons. He’s played in just 11 games combined and accumulated 153 receiving yards. His decline was due to injuries the past two years but he appears to be healthy now.
General manager Tom Telesco must be a big fan of Guyton. He kept him on the roster for five seasons in Los Angeles and is now bringing him over to Las Vegas. He’s going to be a player to watch in training camp as he could sneak his way onto the roster. He may need to beat out Michael Gallup but could also be a good candidate to make the practice squad if there’s not enough room for him on the active roster.
Are Las Vegas Raiders Done Adding WRs?
Wide receiver is starting to look like one of the deepest groups on the Raiders roster. Davante Adams is the star of the group and Jakobi Meyers is one of the better No. 2 wide receivers in the NFL. Gallup is a former 1,000-yard wide receiver and should be a good No. 3.
Tucker is the speedy deep threat and Guyton can bring that too if he makes the team as he ran a 4.39 40-yard dash before he entered the NFL. The only concern is that the team doesn’t appear to have a dedicated and experienced slot receiver. They released Hunter Renfrow this offseason and haven’t replaced him.
That could be due to the fact that first-round pick tight end Brock Bowers could see a lot of snaps at slot receiver. Adams is also known to make a lot of plays in the slot. Plus, Meyers played in the slot a lot when he was with the New England Patriots. Though the Raiders don’t appear to have a dedicated slot receiver, they have a number of players they can rotate there.
Davante Adams Talks WR Growth in NFL
Wide receiver is incredibly becoming an important position in the NFL but there’s no shortage of talent. Every year, there are several very good wide receivers who come out of the draft. Adams recently spoke about how the wide receiver position has changed over the years.
“I love it,” Adams said of the abundance of good wide receiver talent coming into the NFL on the April 30 episode of “The Rush.” “When I first got in the league, and right before I got in the league, I feel like there were two or three guys that would just continuously dominate. Every year, it’s a new guy now, whether it’s a rookie or someone that’s been in the league for two or three years, come out of the woodwork. You have a guy that maybe bounced around on a couple practice squads that will get some burn, and he’ll go out there and go for 150. That stuff happens more frequently now than it used to. It’s definitely more of a passing game.”
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Raiders Sign Ex-Chargers WR With 4.39 40-Yard Dash Speed