Las Vegas gets swept by Denver but young players show some promise
The Las Vegas Raiders’ Week 12 29-19 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 12 makes it seven losses in a row for the Raiders as the team hasn’t won a game since September. However, there are a few silver linings for the Silver and Black as a handful of young players showed promise on Sunday, providing a glimmer of hope for this week’s winners and losers.
WINNER: Tyree Wilson
Wilson has faced plenty of scrutiny during his first year and a half in the NFL, but he’s been playing well recently with a sack in three out of the last four games. Specifically on Sunday, the 2023 first-round pick got to the quarterback once, logged three pressures and had three defensive stops, including a tackle for loss, according to Pro Football Focus.
Those are positive steps for Wilson, who has recorded a good 75.5 PFF run defense grade so far this season.
LOSER: Gardner Minshew
To be clear, Minshew’s broken collarbone that will end his season isn’t the reason why he lands on this week’s losers list. It was a collection of missed throws, several being what should have been “gimmes” around five yards or less past the line of scrimmage.
Also, he managed to throw his 10th interception of the year, currently tied for the fourth-most, and likely would have lost the starting job to Aidan O’Connell next week even if it weren’t for the injury.
WINNER: Jakobi Meyers
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Denver made a concerted effort to take away Brock Bowers and Meyers took advantage of that by logging 10 catches for 121 yards, both being the second-most he’s had in a single game during his six-year career. This also makes it two 100-yard outings in the last three games for the wideout as he’s stepped up after Davante Adams’ departure.
WINNER: Sincere McCormick
McCormick has been around since 2022 but made his regular season debut this weekend and had a pretty good showing. While he only had five carries, the former Roadrunner made the most of them with 33 yards to average 6.6 yards per rush. He showed some impressive vision and agility on a 19-yard rush to potentially earn more play time during the final stretch of the season as the Raiders search for a long-term solution at running back.
LOSER: Decamerion Richardson
This one goes against the theme of young players performing well. With Jakorian Bennett out, Richardson made his first NFL start and had several “welcome to the NFL” moments at the hands of Courtland Sutton. According to PFF, the veteran wideout caught four of four targets for 46 yards, four first downs and a touchdown against the rookie.
Richardson did manage to log a PBU but also gave up a 24-yard reception to Devaughn Vele, surrendering five catches on eight targets for 70 yards on the afternoon.
WINNER: Jordan Meredith
Meredith continues to stack up strong performances this season as he was the Raiders’ highest-graded offensive player (81.0, minimum 10 snaps) per PFF. The guard only allowed one pressure and earned a strong 80.2 mark as a run-blocker. He has yet to surrender a QB hit or sack this season and has posted run-blocking grades above 75 in four out of six outings.
LOSER: Robert Spillane
Behind Richardson, Spillane yielded the most yards (57) in coverage for the Silver and Black on Sunday, according to PFF. Granted, that’s never been his strength, but the run-stuffing linebacker recorded his lowest run-defense grade of the campaign at 40.4 and only registered one defensive stop/high-quality tackle.
WINNER: Draft position
Let’s be honest, the Raiders winning does more harm than good at this stage in the season. The team desperately needs a new quarterback and this past weekend increased those odds. Not only did the loss to the Broncos help that cause, but the Titans’ win pusheded Las Vegas up to the No. 3 overall pick in the current NFL Draft order.
As things stand, the Silver and Black are behind the Jaguars, who signed Trevor Lawrence to a contract extension last offseason, and the Giants, who are also in the quarterback market. So, the Raiders could get at least the second-best signal-caller in the draft class or have enough ammunition to move up to the top selection and have their pick of the litter.