Nelson Agholor is the Raiders latest castoff success story

Nelson Agholor is the latest player to revive his career with the Raiders.

Throughout their long, colorful history and no matter what city the franchise has resided in, the now-Las Vegas Raiders have always prided themselves on giving players second chances. Some call them “outcasts” or maybe even “renegades”. The Raiders, however, called them family. That legacy has continued in the 2020 season with wide receiver Nelson Agholor.

While the Raiders did sign two former Dallas Cowboys in safety Jeff Heath and future Hall-of-Fame tight end Jason Witten this past offseason and while both have played well, it’s the former Philadelphia Eagles pass-catcher that is keeping the mystique of the Raiders way alive.

Agholor’s case of the drops in his previous stint was the subject of much scrutiny in Philadelphia and in the NFL world at large. Part of that was the high-profile nature of many drops but also simply because that’s how Eagles fans do business. You mess up, they’ll let you hear about it.

Of course, the wide receiver did enjoy quite a good year in 2017, a season in which the Eagles won their first and only Super Bowl. But thereafter, he became nothing more than a meme while donning the midnight green of the Eagles and was seen as nothing more than a first-round bust.

The Raiders have helped Nelson Agholor find new life in the NFL.

Fast forward to 202  and Agholor looks to have a whole new career ahead of him. Sometimes, heavily criticized young players just need a change of scenery and a fresh start to thrive and that couldn’t be more true with Agholor based on his first 10 weeks with the Raiders.

So far in 2020, Agholor has caught 18 balls for 355 yards and five touchdowns. Granted, those aren’t eye-popping numbers. However, through nine games for a receiver that was projected to be about a fourth option on the depth chart, it’s pretty remarkable to see how far Agholor has come.

It’s especially so when you take into account stats like this:

That’s pretty impressive company, to put it mildly. Henry Ruggs III was drafted to be the big-play threat but Agholor has completely taken that role over as the rookie has experienced some growing pains in addition to some unfortunate injury luck.

While Nelson Agholor may never be seen as an all-time great in the eyes of the NFL, he’ll always be looked at in a positive light by Raider nation as his journey has been one that’s been taken by so many beloved Raiders before him. Time will tell what the future holds.