Raiders Re-Sign Big-Bodied Fan Favorite WR

The Las Vegas Raiders were hit with a surprise when wide receiver Michael Gallup abruptly retired right before the start of training camp. That left an opening at wide receiver that the team was quick to fill.

The Raiders announced on July 24 that they’ve signed wide receiver Keelan Doss.

That’s a name fans should be familiar with as he joined the Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2019. He became a fan favorite due to the fact that he’s from Alameda, California, which is near where the team played in Oakland prior to moving to Las Vegas.

Doss also had a big role on HBO’s “Hark Knocks” when the Raiders were featured in 2019. Despite the fanfare, he was never able to break out with the team. In two seasons, he played nine games while catching 11 passes for 133 yards.

He’s bounced around the league in recent years and spent the last two years with the Los Angeles Chargers. Notably, Raiders general manager Tom Telesco was with Doss on the Chargers for the last two years. At 6-foot-3, Doss has the size a team would want from an X-receiver. With Gallup out the door, Doss could work his way into a roster spot.

Las Vegas Raiders Sign Corey Luciano

Doss wasn’t the only player the Raiders signed. The team also announced the signing of offensive lineman Corey Luciano. He’s a center who played with the San Francisco 49ers last season after signing as an undrafted free agent.

He played under current Raiders offensive line coach James Cregg last season so there’s a connection there. The team doesn’t need a center as Andre James got a contract extension last season. If he were to get hurt, second-round pick Jackson Powers-Johnson would be the logical player to replace him considering he played the position in college.

Regardless, Cregg must have seen something in Luciano so bring him over to Las Vegas. He could be a good candidate to make the practice squad.

Davante Adams Among Best Players Over 30

The Raiders are very top-heavy at wide receiver but they still have one of the best in the NFL in Davante Adams. The six-time Pro Bowler is 31 now and is no longer considered the best wide receiver in the league. However, he’s still a very productive player.

Ali Bhanpuri, Tom Blair, Gennaro Filice and Dan Parr of NFL.com ranked the best players in the NFL over 30 and Adams was listed at No. 6.

“After cooking the league for years with four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers and then posting some of the best numbers of his career in 2022 with four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr, Adams spent last season catching passes from Jimmy Garoppolo, Brian Hoyer and rookie Aidan O’Connell,” Filice wrote in a July 17 column. “That wasn’t always the most enjoyable experience for the three-time first-team All-Pro, as conspicuously chronicled in Netflix’s Receiver series. QB remains a question mark for the 2024 Raiders, so documentarians would be wise to keep cameras trained on No. 17. But I’m still confident in his singular ability to put corners in a blender.”

Adams hasn’t missed a game in back-to-back seasons so there’s no reason to believe that his body is breaking down. He could be in for another big season.