The Oakland Raiders play the Green Bay Packers in Week 3 exhibition play that will also help determine who will and who might not make the Opening Day roster. Here are three names to keep an eye on.
Week 3 of the 2019 NFL preseason can tell you a lot about not just a team, but who will make the roster. For the Oakland Raiders, you all know who the locks are. There is no need to worry about Derek Carr, Vontaze Burfict or even Antonio Brown. You can pencil them in for Week 1 and not worry you’ve made a mistake.
That’s not so for a lot of others on the depth chart. Week 3 of the exhibition season was once considered the ”dress rehearsal” for NFL teams. It wasn’t uncommon for starters to play one half of football, maybe even into the third quarter if a coach needed answers. These days, not only is extended play an increasing rarity, but players more and more are sitting out what many consider four meaningless games.
The Raiders have questions. Expect head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock to mine for those answers, especially with players who have a fairly high profile and name recognition, but need a good to better performance to not find themselves on the outside looking in.
This week, the Raiders are in Canada to play the Green Bay Packers. Look for this week to be a make or break performance for a few players. In Oakland, you count on these three names to get some added scrutiny as Gruden looks to make some critical roster decisions.