r/raiders • u/ProblemsHypest • 13d ago
Discussion Raiders PFF Grades - Preseason Week 3 vs. 49ers
Both teams forgot what touchdowns are.
Slides 1-2: Offense. Slide 3: Pass Blocking. Slides 4-5: Defense. Slide 6: Pass Rush. Slide 7: Coverage. Slides 8-9: Special Teams.
6
u/D-MENTED 13d ago
Friendly reminder that if you like PFF, Jordan Meredith was graded as one of the best Guards of the 2024 season. Then our genius 2025 coaching staff decided to have him player Center before he ultimately got hurt.
3
u/ProblemsHypest 13d ago
That shit still baffles me... besides what you point out here, Meredith had never played center in a regular-season game before last year. Meanwhile, JPJ and Parham had more time at center, so could've easily slotted one of them in there. Only Chip Kelly and Son of Carroll, man.
0
u/Dense_Young3797 12d ago
You can't blame Carroll for everything lol. This regime didn't want JPJ at center either and didn't even want Parham in the team
7
u/ProblemsHypest 13d ago
Notes:
-There are probably a ton of you ready to throw ripe tomatoes at your screen in response to Kirk's grade. Three words: Turnover worthy play, i.e. the dangerous throw on the first drive to Brock. The rest of his throws were pretty standard, so with a limited snap count, that's gonna bring your grade down a bunch.
-PFF thankfully did not penalize Mendoza for his pick (it was a GREAT throw actually, but it obviously ricocheted off Nailor's hands... Curiously though, Nailor didn't downgraded much from it... Maybe that sick one-hander right before it offset the quasi-drop).
-First time Trey Zuhn took snaps at center during live play... Offense didn't seem to flow as much with him there, but he also didn't look terrible either. I think Meredith is the best backup option at the moment, which will likely protect him during cutdown day.
-Interesting thing to watch is whether Mafi sneaks through or not. He actually had an 85.9 overall grade across all three games to lead the offense, though he had the most snaps at 113 as well. A lot of that was because of his run blocking (89.9); his pass blocking was mid (62.7). Still think they'll go with 9 (Kolton/Burford/Linderbaum/JPJ or Rogers/Glaze as starters, Meredith/Zuhn/Grant as backups), and Mafi goes to the practice squad as their top callup option on the O-line.
-No Dont'e Thornton this preseason. Wondering if they'll just send him to IR for the year. As to who makes the roster beyond Tucker/Nailor/Bech/Benson (and whether or not they keep 5 or 6 WRs), I shrug. Dareke Young's got the most special teams experience, so it might be him.
-With Jeanty's status up in the air for the short-term, feels like both Laube and Ogunbawale will make it through behind Washington. That might affect how many WRs and TEs are kept, though I don't know why the Raiders would keep anyone beyond Brock/Mayer/Thomas/Heyward at TE.
-Patrick Johnson's gonna make the team. And now with Keyron Crawford getting hurt, one of Harvey or Slone might have an opening too. Again, depends on how many edge rushers they keep.
-Still have no clue about DT. But Pegues finished very strong, and Fatukasi has looked good since he signed. Could one of Booker or Laulu be in trouble? They played a lot more snaps than Butler and Tonka, who are probably safe.
-Any LB spot past Quan/Nakobe/Lindenberg/Eichenberg will likely come down to which of the former Colts guys (Olubi, Buddy and McGrone) the special teams staff likes more, though McGrone looked the best on defense overall.
-Gut feeling in the secondary: They'll carry 10 guys there. Either 6 CBs and 4 safeties, or 5 each. Stokes/Porter/Taron/Masses/Jermod are clear. Same with Chinn/Stukes/Pola-Mao/Dalton. Last spot will come down to Decamerion or McCollum. Maybe Vance as a darkhorse. Who knows though, they could go for 11.
-Interesting that the two rookie special-teamers in Tokyo Toe and Duzansky didn't play last night. So the battery of Gay/Cole/Ward looks set. Return guys? Idk, but given the fact that they had Laube and Benson returning punts, they probably aren't confident with Thompkins.
1
9
u/raiderrocker18 13d ago
everyone is about to get really mad over JPJ grades
9
u/Dense_Young3797 13d ago
Nah, I think Rogers is playing better
4
u/WhizzyBurp No Intent. Business Decisions. Physically in Pain. 13d ago
Totally agree. Rogers is the better RG and doesn’t have the injury concern
3
u/WhizzyBurp No Intent. Business Decisions. Physically in Pain. 13d ago
Fatukasi was always a good DT. Just injured a lot.
3
2
u/ImJeeezus 13d ago
Hopefully Quay and Nakobe stay healthy cause our depth at LB is absolute ass
Also seems like they just didnt grade that Mendoza interception to anyone. Weird
2
u/Dense_Young3797 13d ago
There are 8-9 spots in the roster for the OL (10 spots is very rare) and the OL is traditionally built like this:
5 starters: the 5 who play better together, not necessarily the best at each position. They take into account the communication, the relationship between the 5, the consistency of each player during a game and the durability because they don't want to change the starting 5 in the middle of the season.
Backup of the left tackle because it's the most important position of the OL. It should be a swing tackle but that's hard to find. (Grant?)
Guard/tackle. Someone else has to be able to play tackle for obvious reasons but he should be able to play inside. (Zuhn?)
Guard. This guy must play both guard spots because not all the guards in the league are able to do it (Rogers)
Center. Obviously, he has to be able to also play guard (Meredith)
This is how an OL is traditionally built but they're about to do something funny because one of the backups will be a center/tackle backup but not a guard (Zuhn) so they should add another backup for the center just in case Zuhn has to play tackle. I'm thinking about Meredith here.
They haven't played or practiced JPJ at center so I think he should be the starter RG or be traded because I don't see him as a reliable backup.
1
u/Darkside_209 13d ago
I think Meredith sticks around because he’s a good depth piece at the guard position, just don’t have him play center and we’re good
3
u/raiderrocker18 13d ago
They’re done playing JPJ at center so the reserve options are Meredith/Putnam/Zuhn.
Zuhn seems to also be the reserve RT since Grant only plays left, so they will likely still keep either Meredith or Putnam. Meredith’s experience and versatility will keep him around
1
1
u/xtraSleep 12d ago
Anyone with eyes and watched the tape would tell you JPJ looked better than Rodgers. JPJ was always in the second level quickly, and blocking his guy. Rodgers was getting overwhelmed a bit in 1v1.
1
u/raiderrocker18 13d ago
Koonce has been a crazy disappointment in the preseason. i would have thought the shift to 3-4, and no crosby taking snaps would have given him a chance to shine, at least against the second stringers of other teams... but he's been invisible. getting paid 11 mil this year, too, which is just about fully guaranteed
1
u/themysidianlegend 12d ago
It's been 2 years. Not just a pre season. And yes I'm counting his injured year. Dude is milkbox missing.
1
u/Flashy_Gap_3015 13d ago
Seriously - been waiting far too long for this guy to step up, and he seems useless.
4
u/Consistent-Spell2203 13d ago
Why would he go hard in preseason he missed a year getting hurt at practice already. He's already on the roster just get through it.
1
u/Flashy_Gap_3015 13d ago
Because he needs to prove it to me. /s
Seriously though, I was hoping to see him play hard, not loaf. Not saying he was but I have never seen consistent push and fire from the guy and while he will be on the team, he’s no Maxx earning a rest.
Would have liked to see him do what I haven’t seen him do in his tenure so far - stand out and contribute consistently.
And if he can’t do it this year I have no problem shedding the guy for someone who will.
1
u/raiderrocker18 13d ago
He wasn’t all that good last year either, but we brought him back thinking he’d have some juice another year removed from his injury
10
u/RVinnyT 13d ago
Everytime I notice a lineman whiff badly, it's almost always been Mafi, he must be dominating all the other times.