Raiders Insider Podcast What To Expect vs 49ers
On this episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast, we give you more analysis from joint practice and what to expect vs. the 49ers.
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00:00 Hi everybody, this is Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation Las Vegas
00:06 Raiders Insider Podcast.
00:10 The Raiders have just completed two days of joint practices.
00:14 If you did not see my recap of those, I highly encourage you to go back and watch them.
00:21 Today's podcast is going to be a little bit different than those.
00:26 We're certainly going to talk about those practices a little bit more, but I'm going
00:30 to talk about what you should be looking for in the preseason game.
00:35 Now that game kicks off on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium at 4 Eastern, 1 Pacific out here in
00:40 the West.
00:41 We're going to talk about that game, what you should expect, what are some things that
00:47 I'm going to be looking for that may resonate with you, and some things for you to watch.
00:56 But also, obviously you could have different things you're looking for.
01:00 But there are two players that I didn't have time to get into yesterday.
01:05 I guess that probably isn't fair.
01:07 I did have time, but I didn't get into, and I want to talk a little bit today about, especially
01:14 for tomorrow.
01:16 Now yesterday, Zemir White looked really good.
01:21 He had a very good day at camp.
01:24 He had a really long touchdown from our vantage point because of where the players were standing.
01:29 Harry Ruiz, who is the voice of the Spanish version of the play-by-play, my good buddy
01:36 who's been on my podcast, was sitting next to me.
01:39 We couldn't tell, but he had a touchdown that was either a 30 or 35-yard touchdown, which
01:44 was a really good touchdown for him against that San Francisco defense.
01:52 He had a really good day.
01:56 The previous day, I thought he was okay.
01:58 I didn't think he was great.
02:00 I didn't think he was bad.
02:01 I just thought he was okay.
02:03 But yesterday was a very good day for Zemir White.
02:08 He's a guy we'll be talking about here in a minute on what to watch for.
02:11 But I wanted to give him that credit.
02:12 I could have added it yesterday.
02:13 I didn't because I thought it was going longer than it was.
02:18 I had tweeted about it, but I wanted to address it.
02:22 Another guy, and I'm going to give you this analysis.
02:26 If you've ever been to an NFL game or if you've ever watched an NFL game on television, don't
02:33 judge college because college is different because of the different sizes.
02:37 When a ball goes through the goalposts, picture the goalposts in quarters.
02:43 If a ball goes through the top quarter of the uprights, then you figure that ball probably
02:52 could have gone another 15 to 20 yards and still been good.
02:58 If it goes through the third quarter, which is one below the top, you figure it could
03:04 have gone 10 or 15 more yards.
03:08 Again, the second quarter, one from the bottom, you figure five to 10 more yards.
03:14 In the bottom quarter, five or less.
03:18 Now that's really important because when you're watching guys kick, you just want to
03:22 get a feel.
03:25 Yesterday Daniel Carlson was booming 50-yard field goals going through the upper quarter.
03:34 Not just at the bottom of the top quarter, but at the top two or three yards of the goalposts.
03:42 He looked amazing.
03:45 I have often said, in my opinion, he's the best kicker in the National Football League.
03:51 Yesterday he was putting on a show.
03:54 Now you have to understand that the outside of the Raiders facility, there's three outdoor
03:58 fields.
03:59 So we're sitting, picture three fields aligned, not like this, but stacked this way going
04:07 away from you.
04:11 So we're sitting or standing along the sidelines of the first field, and that's where Daniel
04:18 was kicking.
04:19 The second field is where the scrimmage was going on, and then there's a third field.
04:23 If you go to my Twitter @HondoCarpenter, you can see a lot of the video I put up from practice.
04:34 That'll kind of show you how the fields are laid out.
04:38 He was booming them through the top part of the top quarter.
04:40 He was right on the money.
04:43 He really just looked, him and A.J.
04:46 Cole, I didn't see A.J. kicking yesterday or the day before, but he still has had a
04:51 very, very good camp.
04:53 But Daniel Carlson is just, I mean, he's looked amazing.
04:58 And I think it's important to point out.
05:01 So let's talk about what we're going to be looking for tomorrow.
05:03 I got several players I want to talk about and some things I want to see.
05:08 Let me tell you what you probably shouldn't be looking for because you're not going to
05:13 see it.
05:14 Number one, this is not a scheme game.
05:18 What I mean by that is they're not putting together a big playbook.
05:22 They're not watching the Niners on film and trying to scheme to win it.
05:28 Do they want to win it?
05:29 Of course they do.
05:30 They want to win every time they get on the field.
05:32 But this is more on the Raiders and the Niners working on things that they think they need
05:37 to work on.
05:39 So you may see them go for on a fourth down that doesn't make sense just because they
05:46 want to get some fourth down practices if they don't feel like they've done enough in
05:49 practice, whatever.
05:51 So don't look at it as a scheme.
05:53 I remember one time I was covering an NFL game and Steve Mariucci made a decision that
06:03 people just roasted him for.
06:05 Well, the problem was, is he would have never made it in a regular season game is he wanted
06:11 to work on a particular part of his team's game.
06:14 And that was the only opportunity that was afforded to him.
06:18 So I wouldn't look at that.
06:19 You can't really judge a team's, you know, and how their scheme is because that's not
06:24 what this is about.
06:26 But there's one thing that I want to see, and that's any player whose position is settled,
06:34 meaning listen, there's nobody's going to unseat this guy, a Max Crosby, a Colton Miller,
06:40 a Dylan Parham, a Marcus Epps, a Marcus Peters.
06:45 I want to see those guys just not even play.
06:48 Now I understand if you're a fan buying tickets, that's really frustrating and I respect that.
06:55 But as a guy who's just covering the team and you saw with Devontae Adams, I mean first
07:01 hit yesterday, you know, he went down.
07:04 Now again, go back and watch yesterday's video.
07:06 I gave you a recap of what I've heard about Devontae.
07:12 Again, fully expect him back for the regular season opener.
07:16 I don't expect to see him in any more games.
07:18 I don't expect to see him in any more joint practices.
07:24 It doesn't mean he's not going to be thrown with Jimmy and other things after a little
07:27 bit.
07:28 Again, I'm not saying today, but I have no expectations that he won't get more reps at
07:37 all.
07:39 It's just not going to be participating in joint practices or preseason games.
07:46 Now, and I don't think you would have seen him in preseason games anyways.
07:50 I mean, I don't want to see a Jacoby Myers out there.
07:53 He settled at the two.
07:54 You know what he is.
07:56 You know what you have.
07:57 Why?
07:58 I don't even want to see Hunter Renfro.
07:59 Just keep Hunter Renfro out.
08:03 Those are the type of players, you know, you don't want to see, like I said, Max, you don't
08:06 want to see a Chandler.
08:07 There's no reason for Chandler to be out there.
08:11 I don't want to see Jimmy.
08:13 If you want to run, you know, one series just for some of the ones with Brian Hoyer, great,
08:18 but you don't want to see much of Brian either.
08:20 He's a 15 year vet.
08:21 You know what he got.
08:22 He's had a great camp.
08:23 Leave him out of it.
08:25 Now it's important to understand, I say that because of these joint practices, because
08:32 they're getting so many reps and they're game reps.
08:35 I mean, they're live reps.
08:37 And so if you're a Raider fan, okay, and you go when you buy your tickets, because you
08:43 want to go to a preseason game, of course you want to see these guys.
08:45 That's why you pay.
08:47 But at the same time, you get one of them with a Tay Adams injury, and it's a little
08:53 bit more serious and you're like, why we just saw a lot of them in live reps.
08:59 So I think for the interest of the team, you make that decision.
09:04 Also I wanted to let you know, when we tell you about a lot of plays in practice, we have
09:09 a very short window and I think it's probably, I'm going to guess eight minutes, seven minutes,
09:15 maybe, maybe sometimes up to nine or 10, but it's a very short window that we're allowed
09:20 to shoot video.
09:22 So when we tell you about something and don't have video, it's not that I'm not trying to
09:27 show you, it's literally, it's not a window in which we're allowed to shoot.
09:31 Just wanted you to be aware of that.
09:33 So let's talk about some guys that I want to see.
09:40 And I got my notes right here, so bear with me if you would.
09:42 But one guy that I really want to see a lot of tomorrow, and I really, it's important
09:51 to me because he's had a great camp, but I want, he needs more reps, is Nesta Jade Silvera.
09:58 This guy is out there and he's banging and he's playing so well.
10:03 In fact, I don't want to see any defensive tackle of the young ones.
10:09 I don't want to see, I want to see a lot from Adam Plant.
10:14 I want to see Adam Butler, who's not young.
10:17 I'm not saying he's a rookie, but I want to see him out there.
10:20 To me, every defensive tackle, Butler, Farrell, York, I mean Young, excuse me, not York, Young,
10:28 Jade, I want to see all those guys out there.
10:30 I don't need to see Jenkins.
10:32 I know what Jenkins brings.
10:34 I don't need to see Balal Nichols, but I want to see those young guys.
10:39 Tons of reps.
10:41 If you're a agrarian person, if you like horses like I do, the great Will Rogers used to say
10:50 the best thing for a young horse is a wet saddle blanket.
10:53 It just means a lot of sweat.
10:55 I've heard a lot of coaches use that same analogy.
10:59 Some guys just got to get a lot of reps, get sweaty and get dirty and get out there and
11:04 play.
11:05 I want to see that.
11:06 I'm going to be putting almost all of my focus on the offensive and defensive lines.
11:11 Now, I do that personally because I understand that's where games are won and that's where
11:15 games are lost.
11:16 Quite frankly, if you look back over the recent history of the Raiders, that's where they've
11:23 struggled.
11:24 I'm going to be watching that very close.
11:26 I want to see a lot of Zemir White.
11:29 I'd like to see the whole first quarter of Zemir if they keep their twos in that long.
11:36 However long they keep the twos, I want them with ones and twos and nobody else.
11:40 Then I think you've got to ... There are a lot of guys that are injured, banged up a
11:43 little bit.
11:44 Then you throw Damien Williams out there and do a lot with him, but he just got here.
11:49 I'm not looking for a lot from him, but I do want to see some Zemir, a lot from Zemir.
11:53 Next, I want to talk about ... Yeah, I am really interested to see how Trey Tucker does.
12:10 I think he needs as many reps as he can get.
12:14 He's a good player.
12:15 Obviously, when I say this, I don't mean you play him a whole game, but maybe the whole
12:19 first half, maybe even the whole first half into the third quarter.
12:25 I want Trey Tucker to get a lot of reps.
12:26 He's been super impressive.
12:28 He's going to play a lot for the Raiders this year.
12:30 He is going to play a lot for them.
12:33 I want to see him.
12:34 He just, again, just gets sweaty and run routes, run routes.
12:40 You have to understand, as the game goes on, they're playing against a lot of guys who
12:45 may not be playing next year for the Rams or guys fighting to make a squad, but they're
12:51 still NFL players.
12:54 Sometimes I've heard people say, "Oh, they're putting in scrubs."
12:56 Okay, if scrub means guys that are close enough to be in the NFL that they're playing in preseason
13:03 with a chance to make a team, but let's not pretend like these still aren't good players.
13:09 They need reps.
13:10 They need to be used to that, and they need to get used to that environment.
13:15 You know, a lot of players come from an Ohio State, from a Notre Dame, from a Clemson,
13:22 from an Alabama, from a Texas.
13:25 They come from big schools with big stadiums and big on-campus presence.
13:31 The jump to the NFL is really not a big deal to them.
13:34 In fact, if you're coming from a much larger school, it would say you're sitting 100,000
13:42 plus.
13:43 Well, okay, Allegiant seats under 70, so it's almost a smaller crowd.
13:50 But not all these guys come from those places.
13:54 Most of them don't, and so you want to get them out there and let them get used to the
14:01 environment.
14:02 But again, I really want to see Trey Tucker.
14:04 Another guy I want to see a lot of is Aiden O'Connell.
14:07 I really like him.
14:09 He just needs a lot of reps.
14:11 If it were me, I wouldn't even play Brian Hoyer.
14:15 I'd start Aiden O'Connell and just tell him, "You're playing the entire first half.
14:20 Get out there and do it, and maybe into the third, maybe, and then let Chase Garbers play
14:26 the, you know, if he doesn't play the entire second half, you know, a quarter and a half
14:32 from Chase."
14:33 But I want to see a lot of reps with Aiden.
14:35 Now, another thing you've got to remember is the longer Aiden O'Connell is out there,
14:41 he's going to be throwing the guys that probably aren't going to make the team or have a longer
14:46 shot.
14:48 So when you watch the game, if you watch, if you don't watch, you just can't read the
14:53 stats.
14:54 You got to go back and see who was he playing with?
14:58 Where was ball delivery?
15:01 Was he holding the ball a little bit long against another team's three and fours where
15:05 he could get away with that like he did at Purdue?
15:08 You know, those are so many little nuances.
15:10 These are all things I encourage you to, to what to look for as you watch the game.
15:16 Next, I want to talk about Amari.
15:19 I'm not, excuse me.
15:22 I've said Amari, excuse me.
15:24 I want to talk about Chris Smith.
15:27 This is a guy that has had a good camp.
15:34 He was drafted.
15:35 He's super smart.
15:36 He's a young Marcus Epps.
15:39 But I want to see this guy get out there and get some reps.
15:43 I want to see him play.
15:46 And I want to see him just get a lot of reps.
15:50 I want to watch how he's moving guys.
15:53 Watch how he's quarterbacking.
15:55 Watch what he's learned from Marcus Epps.
15:57 Again, this guy's going to be a star.
15:59 He's going to make the team.
16:02 But with Marcus Epps, there's not going to be a ton of opportunities for him to do that.
16:07 And I want to see him earn those.
16:10 I would love for Marcus Epps in the regular season to just, you know, every once in a
16:15 while be able to sit a series out because you're letting Chris Smith get some reps.
16:19 I'm going to be watching Chris really close.
16:20 I don't expect to see Michael Merritt at all.
16:23 The tight end.
16:24 Amik Robinson is a guy that, man, he's battling, he's competing.
16:29 I told you he's had a good camp.
16:32 I don't want to see him a long time.
16:34 Maybe the whole first half.
16:36 Maybe a half or maybe just a quarter.
16:40 But I want to see him out there.
16:42 He's had a good camp.
16:43 I want to see him to be able to consistently build on that.
16:46 It'll build his confidence getting more reps.
16:49 And as the game goes on and he's playing against guys who maybe aren't ones and he still plays
16:55 really well, I think it just builds his confidence.
16:57 I think it's good for Amik.
17:00 Again, I already mentioned Farrell and Butler, but I just want to see a lot of reps from
17:06 those guys.
17:07 I want to see a lot.
17:08 I would like it to be like a hockey game.
17:10 Let's just watch them rotate those guys in and out like lines and get plenty of reps.
17:16 Again, no reason to play Max.
17:19 There's no reason to play Chandler.
17:23 Just let those young guys get a ton of reps.
17:25 Now I want to reiterate, because I think this is super important, no settled players.
17:38 Now I think Jacorian is a one.
17:41 I still want to see him out there getting a few reps.
17:43 Yes, he's had a good camp.
17:45 Yes, he's taken a lot of extras.
17:46 I told you how he jumped in and took reps against Devontae.
17:50 But again, he's young, so I don't want him to see him play as long as I want to see some
17:53 others.
17:55 But I do want to see it.
17:56 I want to see an Amari Burney.
17:59 I want him to get out there.
18:00 I want to see something from him.
18:01 I want him to show me a little bit of flash.
18:07 I want to see a Drake Thomas.
18:09 I want to see a lot of McClendon Curtis, Dalton Wagner.
18:16 These are all guys that when a lot of people quit watching the game, and then it becomes
18:22 more of a just, "Hey, sit around your buddies and watch and laugh," and the announcers are
18:25 laughing and watching.
18:27 That's important football.
18:29 McClendon Curtis, Dalton, these are guys that may be a year away, maybe two in one of those
18:36 cases.
18:37 But these are guys that are potentially be future important Raiders.
18:41 Those are reps that you're going to want to see.
18:43 Those are things you're going to look at.
18:45 Maybe it's not another team's ones, but how's their technique?
18:49 For example, the other night I was watching a preseason game, and it was the Hall of Fame
18:53 game.
18:54 DeJuan, who's one of the guys from Omaha State that the Raiders really liked, was picked
19:01 in the fourth round play.
19:03 He played obviously against lesser competition.
19:06 But he looked really good.
19:07 His technique was good.
19:10 There's a couple of things they needed to work on.
19:12 But that's a guy that, okay, you can see it's coming.
19:15 I want to see that from the young guys.
19:18 I just want to see it.
19:19 Now, if Zemir comes out and blows it up, and the first quarter gets 45 yards rushing
19:26 and 35 yards in pass reception, and he's blocking, looks really good, and you're really happy
19:32 with it, then you don't have to play him as long.
19:35 But if he's struggling in that passing game, or maybe struggling a little bit running,
19:39 which I don't think he would in the run game, you keep him in there a little bit longer.
19:44 But these are all things.
19:46 You know, the Raiders have a very deep roster this year, and extremely deep.
19:51 I'm going to tell you how deep it is, is that they're going to be cutting good players.
19:56 Now, last year we talked about they were going to be cutting some players who were going
20:01 to be picked up on other teams' rosters.
20:04 And they were.
20:06 This year they're going to be cutting players who very well could end up at other teams'
20:10 rosters and not just make a roster, but be players.
20:15 I mean, guys who are going to get a lot of reps playing immediately.
20:19 Some of them, some positions, if they only carry five receivers, whoever that sixth one
20:25 is that gets cut is going to get picked up by somebody and be a starter.
20:28 So I think that's very vital to know what you're looking for.
20:31 Now, maybe you're just a casual fan, and you're like, "I just like to watch the games, have
20:35 fun."
20:36 Okay, great.
20:37 Then none of this is stuff that you're going to want to look for.
20:40 But in baseball, St. Louis Cardinals fans are known as some of the smartest baseball
20:45 fans in baseball.
20:47 In fact, they'll applaud when a player on another team just makes a really good baseball
20:53 play.
20:54 Still want you to lose.
20:55 I'll never forget the first time I was at Indiana to watch a basketball game, and a
21:00 player on another team just made an unbelievable pass, and there was a layup score.
21:05 Well, in Indiana, basketball's king.
21:08 And those fans all gave him a standing ovation.
21:12 I've seen it at Nebraska with the Cornhuskers, where the other team comes in and plays really
21:17 well, and they'll give the other team a standing ovation because they're smart football fans.
21:26 Same way Raider fans are that way.
21:28 Now, I don't think they're going to cheer another team that makes a good play.
21:31 They're a little bit different than Cardinals and the Hoosiers and the Huskers, but they
21:37 know good football, and so I'm just giving you some things to look for.
21:41 Sometimes I've heard people that'll say, "Hey, why didn't the coach play this guy?
21:44 Was he injured?"
21:45 No, it's just the guys before them, they were looking to see things, and it took them longer
21:49 to see it.
21:50 So the longer it takes for maybe a one to come out or a guy who's a borderline one,
21:54 then you get the two.
21:55 Well, what if the two doesn't flash?
21:57 Then you got to leave them in a little bit longer, then you go to a three, and then all
22:01 of a sudden your four is wanting reps, and there just isn't a whole lot of reps left.
22:06 So that's what to be looking for.
22:09 I want to see the outside of the ones and twos.
22:15 Are the threes and fours being as aggressive as the ones and twos?
22:19 Is that message only permeating the ones and twos?
22:23 Because the Raiders have been extremely physical, ball hawking.
22:27 And Amari Birney, I'd like to see him pick up a fumble or get an interception.
22:32 That guy's a turnover machine.
22:34 In college, he's super fast.
22:35 I want him to show it.
22:37 I'm just looking for those types of things.
22:39 So when the game, when the announcers start to make you feel like the game is irrelevant,
22:45 and here's how you know when they, this is their key, when they start talking a lot and
22:50 doing a lot of stories and not talking about the on-field game, when they're bringing in
22:54 guests for interviews, that's when you know, okay, this is probably getting away.
22:59 In fact, if you're watching a Monday night game and they're talking about, "Oh yeah,
23:04 this week we were with the coach and we were playing checkers," turn it off.
23:07 It's over.
23:08 It's just, watch for those things.
23:09 But when that's going on, just zero in and pay attention to these young guys.
23:15 You're going to learn a lot about your future Raiders.
23:17 And they're Raiders now, but you're going to learn a lot these young guys now.
23:20 What if, what if Amarcus Epps comes down in week 12 and Chris Smith has to step in?
23:27 Now that allows you to say, "Hey, I remember watching this in the preseason.
23:30 This is something he did really well and the team will probably scheme towards his strength."
23:36 And those are all things that you're going to want to see.
23:39 So again, a lot of stuff there for you.
23:41 I'm going to be watching special teams very closely.
23:43 Now I shared this with you earlier in camp about how Daniel Carlson talked about he loves
23:51 preseason because that's what gets the work on it the most.
23:54 So of course I'm going to watch him and AJ Cole.
23:55 I want to watch Jacob Bobenmore, the new long snapper, how him and AJ Cole, he snaps to
24:01 AJ and gets, excuse me, gets the ball down.
24:06 I want to watch that kind of stuff.
24:07 I want to watch kick returns and punt returns.
24:11 Who's doing them?
24:12 How are they doing?
24:13 I'm going to watch the blocking.
24:14 I'm going to watch a lot of those of the offensive and defense lines.
24:17 So a lot of good stuff there for you.
24:19 Those are some scheme things I want you to look for.
24:21 Excuse me, not scheme because they're not game planning, but just technique things and
24:26 ways that they're going to do it that aren't revealing secrets.
24:30 You're not going to learn secrets about your Raiders, but you're going to learn a lot and
24:35 it should be a good one.
24:36 So again, I'm Hondo Carpenter from Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation, Las Vegas Raiders
24:40 Insider Podcast, part of the Fans First Sports Network.
24:44 Thanks for listening, everybody.
24:45 Have a great day.
24:46 Can you believe it?
24:48 We're just 24 hours away from some real game football.
24:53 Football's back.
24:54 Our long national wait is over.
24:55 Bye, everybody.
24:56 [ Silence ]