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Las Vegas Raiders training camp officially opens for the entire squad at their Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada, on July 25. That is when head coach Josh McDaniels and his coaching staff will have to try and put together the best 53-man roster possible and the best starting 11 players on both sides of the ball after that for the 2023 NFL season. That means players at multiple positions will be competing for spots on the Raiders roster. With that in mind, here are the three biggest Raiders training camp battles to watch ahead of 2023 NFL season, including the Chandler Jones vs. Tyree Wilson battle at defensive end.
Defensive end: Chandler Jones vs. Tyree Wilson
The biggest Raiders training camp battle is between disappointing free agent signing Chandler Jones and rookie No. 7 overall pick Tyree Wilson.
There is no question that Maxx Crosby needs help on the defensive line. The Raiders finished 30th last season with 27 sacks, and Crosby had 12.5 of those. Jones, who signed a three-year, $51 million deal last offseason, only chipped in 4.5 sacks.
With that performance fresh in the memory, Las Vegas used its top-10 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to take Texas Tech pass rusher, Tyree Wilson. The 6-foot-6, 271-pound DE had 14.0 sacks in 23 games during his last two years in Lubbock.
This Raiders roster competition likely won’t start for a few days or even weeks, as Wilson is starting the season on the non-football injury list after two offseason foot surgeries. However, the prognosis for his return sounds good, and he’s eligible to return at any time.
Once Tyree Wilson comes back, the battle is on. And he and Chandler Jones will fight it out to be the Robin to Maxx Crosby’s Batman on the Raiders defense in 2023.
Backup quarterback: Brian Hoyer vs. Aidan O’Connell
Is Jimmy Garoppolo an upgrade over talent-wise of Derek Carr? Probably.
That said, Raiders fans can’t ignore the fact that Carr missed four games in nine seasons with the franchise, while Jimmy G has only played more than 11 games in a season twice in his nine-year career.
Garoppolo’s injuries were such a concern when the Raiders signed him that the team put language in his contract that they could release him with no penalty if he didn’t pass a preseason physical.
The unfortunate truth of the matter is that Jimmy G gets hurt a lot, and there is a chance that in 2023 behind a questionable Raiders offensive line, that could happen again. If that’s the case, the backup quarterback battle becomes paramount.
This Raiders roster competition in training camp comes down to the seeming ageless (but actually will be 38 on October 15) Brian Hoyer and rookie fourth-round pick out of Purdue, Aidan O’Connell.
Hoyer is a great sidekick and acts as another coach in the QB room. However, he’s thrown just 29 NFL passes (in 104 snaps) over the course of the last four seasons combined. Still, O’Connell is a rookie, so who knows which option is better?
We’ll see at Raiders training camp.
Cornerback: Duke Shelley vs. Jakorian Bennett vs. David Long Jr.
Back on defense, the third Raiders training camp battle to watch is for the two outside cornerback spots between free-agent signings Duke Shelley and David Long Jr. and fourth-round rookie Jakorian Bennett.
Las Vegas gave up the fourth-most passing yards in the NFL last season. And while some of that was due to a lack of pass rush (see above), it was also because the secondary was porous. That's why the team completely revamped their secondary room this offseason.
Shelley (Round 6) and Long (Round 4) were both 2019 draft picks. And in four years for the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings (Shelley) and the Los Angeles Rams (Long), the two have put up remarkably similar numbers. Here’s the tale of the tape:
- Duke Shelley: 41 games, 11 starts, 84 tackles, 12 passes defended, one interception
- David Long Jr.: 52 games, 10 starts, 77 tackles, seven passes defended, one interception
The two vets will likely start Raiders training camp as CB1 and CB2 next to one of the better slot corners in the league, Nate Hobbs. However, Bennett is a big, strong, aggressive CB who picked off five balls and had a staggering 22 passes defended his last two seasons at Maryland.
All three of these players will get playing time in camp and during the regular season, as a modern NFL team can never have enough CBs. They will also likely all get a chance to win a starting job in the preseason and don’t be surprised if the rookie snags one of those spots from the two veterans he is competing against.
