Oakland Raiders: 3 Players to watch in Preseason Week 3
The Oakland Raiders will host their dress rehearsal Preseason Week 3 matchup against the Green Bay Packers, and here’s who to watch in the Silver and Black.
There will certainly be plenty of Silver and Black on display on Friday night as the Oakland Raiders welcome the Green Bay Packers to town in Week 3 of the 2018 NFL preseason. These are two of the most storied franchises in the league and, even if it’s just an exhibition game, seeing them clash is always great fun. And with it being the “dress rehearsal” game, that adds a bit more to the mix.
Of course, some of the air has already been taken out of the Oakland Coliseum with news that Aaron Rodgers and a handful of Packers starters won’t play on Friday night. The same, however, can’t be said for new head coach Jon Gruden’s team. They are still trying to get things right heading into the 2018 season, so this is a pivotal week for them.
As is the case throughout the preseason, this time of the year is all about guys earning their spots on the roster, proving themselves and developing chemistry on the field. There is no better time than the vaunted Preseason Week 3 game to show how that’s coming around.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at three players who will be in the spotlight for the Raiders on Friday night.
Gareon Conley, CB
When the Raiders elected to use their 2017 first-round pick on Gareon Conley, the hope was that the highly touted cornerback out of Ohio State would help a secondary that has infamously been troublesome in Oakland. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as a rookie as Conley spent most of the year banged up and trying to get healthy. Fans thought more of the same might be coming when he injured his hip early in the 2018 preseason, but that seems to have been avoided.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
Now it’s about proving himself. While Rodgers may not be on the field for the Packers, this is still an offense that has proven to have a bit of potency. Even if that weren’t the case though, Conley just needs experience at this point, in addition to chances to prove why he’s a first-round talent. He should get the snaps and work, even if they are limited to keep him healthy, to start to show that in this dress rehearsal game.
Chris Warren, RB
This is highly unimaginative to include Warren, but it doesn’t make him any less intriguing at this point. The undrafted free agent signing out of Texas has been one of the biggest stars of the preseason in the entire league to this point. He came out firing in Week 1 with 13 carries for 86 yards, then stayed hot with 18 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown last week.
While Warren isn’t likely to supplant Marshawn Lynch as the starter in Oakland, he has become more than a dark horse with his preseason showings to overtake Doug Martin’s spot on the 53-man roster. However, we must consider the two-game sample size to this point, which could hurt his case to a degree. Having said that, if Warren can come out once again and show similar effectiveness when given the rock, he might just win himself a job behind Beast Mode on the depth chart.
Any Wide Receiver Not Named Cooper or Nelson
Plenty has been said in regards to narrative about free-agent addition Jordy Nelson facing his former team on Friday night. However, there’s honestly not much that we need to know about him at this point. Reports out of camp are that he and Derek Carr have great chemistry and that he’s a consummate pro. And while fans want to see Amari Cooper right the ship, we still know what he has to offer both on the high and low ends of the spectrum.
Next. NFL Preseason: Bold predictions for Week 3. dark
Where the Raiders do need to see more, however, is beyond those two guys on the depth chart. To this point in the preseason, no other receiver has really done much to separate themselves within the position group, not even new faces like Martavis Bryant and Ryan Switzer. Subsequently, all eyes will be on the wideouts behind the top two guys on the depth chart to see if they’re able to make any progress towards becoming a third reliable option in Oakland’s passing game.