As Las Vegas Raiders training camp rolls on, the team’s roster is still in flux. With the first Raiders preseason game looming against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, August 13, head coach Josh McDaniels and his staff have some tough decisions to make. Several players on the bubble could face the ax if they don’t perform well in the next few weeks. Here are four Raiders players on the roster bubble who must shine in the preseason, including quarterback Chase Garbers.
QB Chase Garbers
How do we know that quarterback Chase Garbers is on the Raiders' roster bubble this preseason? Because he’s already been released once.
The former Cal QB got cut right before Raiders training camp this season, but the team re-signed him just a few days later. Josh McDaniels obviously likes the signal-caller but with Jimmy Garoppolo, Aidan O’Connell, and Brian Hoyer already in the mix, there isn’t much room for the former Golden Bear.
O’Connell has turned heads early in camp, so he is in the driver’s seat to win the backup job. And Hoyer is more of a coach than a QB at this point, so it seems like there is nothing much he can do to lose his spot.
That said, if Chase Garbers shows out in whatever limited Raiders preseason action he gets, there is a chance he sticks as the third QB over Hoyer.
CB Amik Robertson
This offseason the Raiders’ roster situation at cornerback went from a weakness to a strength.
The team added Marcus Peters, Duke Shelley, David Long Jr., and Brandon Facyson in free agency and former Maryland corner Jakorian Bennett in the draft. Add that to incumbent slot corner Nate Hobbs, and that is a ready-made secondary.
That’s bad news for any and all cornerbacks who were in Raiders training camp last season, like Amik Robertson. The fourth-year CB had a decent season in 2022. He played all 17 games, started seven, and made 38 tackles, with a sack, nine passes defended, two interceptions, and the longest fumble return for a touchdown in the NFL last season at 68 yards.
Still, if Josh McDaniels and company thought Robertson was a potential star cover man, they wouldn’t have brought in so many players at his position. Plus, cutting him would save about $1 million, and with the Las Vegas cap situation right now, that’s not a bad deal.
Robertson can turn his fortunes around in the preseason, but all things being equal, the team will likely cut him before any of the players mentioned above.
OG Jordan Meredith
The Raiders roster also went through a bit of a makeover on the offensive line this preseason, specifically at the guard spot.
Greg Van Roten and Netane Muti came in as free agents, and the team signed undrafted rookie McClendon Curtis who is raw but has a ton of potential. And that’s the player Meredith will have to outplay in Raiders training camp and preseason games in order to keep his spot.
Meredith was an undrafted free agent last season and was a solid depth piece last season. However, with the influx of new guards and the fact that Jermaine Eluemunor could lose his starting tackle spot to Thayer Munford and slide over to guard or into the sixth OL slot, Meredith is at serious risk of losing his spot.
The guard may not only have to play well in the 2023 preseason. He may also have to show some versatility — playing either tackle or center — in order to stay on the team for the new season.
Neil Farrell Jr.
The defensive tackle rotation is a total crapshoot at this point in the Raiders preseason. Last year’s starters Jerry Tillery and Bilal Nichols are back, and the team signed veteran John Jenkins this offseason.
Second-year players Matthew Butler and Neil Farrell Jr. are in the mix, too, as are rookies Nesta Jade Silvera and Byron Young and veterans Adam Butler and Kyle Peko. That’s a ton of options for a position that will likely only feature four players in 2023.
Several of these players could become trade or practice squad candidates, but Farrell could also be the odd man out.
Farrell is starting Raiders training camp on the non-football injured list, and there is no clear timetable for his return. While the 2022 fourth-round pick showed some promise in his nine games last season, Las Vegas simply has too many DTs to carry one who can’t get on the practice field for the team.
If Farrell does get back and players in the Raiders' preseason matchups, he’ll need to play well and outshine some of the DTs he is competing with.
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