At the start of training camp, the Raiders had a logjam at wide receiver.
Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper, Rod Streater, Andre Holmes, Brice Butler, Kenbrell Thompkins, Josh Harper and Kris Durham ranked as the leading candidates to land the five or six roster spots available on the roster for 2015.
But after the first cuts made this week, one wide receiver who was given little chance – Seth Roberts – has made a strong case to grab one of those spots.
An injury to Holmes and the release of Harper and Thompkins this week have helped give Roberts an opportunity.
But Roberts has mostly been making his own good luck with terrific performances in training camp and three exhibition games.
In exhibition play, Roberts has eight catches for a team-best 133 yards. This past weekend against the Cardinals, he had three catches for 52 yards, including a 20-yarder. Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle, who covers the Raiders, noted that Roberts now could make the roster along with Crabtree, Cooper, Streater and Butler, with Holmes still sidelined by a hand injury.
“I have my mind set on making this team,” Roberts told Tafur. “If I don’t make it I would be hurt, but right now I am not even thinking about the cut-down days.”
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The Raiders have one last preseason game, Thursday night in Seattle against the Seahawks. Then come the team’s final cuts this weekend before the start of the regular season on Sunday, Sept. 13, vs. the Bengals.
Nothing is set yet, however. Durham also has had a good summer and Devon Wylie – a return specialist also listed as a wide receiver – both remain on the roster.
Roberts, from Division II West Alabama, was an undrafted free agent in 2014 who spent last season on the Raiders’ practice squad. But the Raiders like his sure hands, good size (6-foot-2, 196 pounds) and speed (4.44 40-yard dash at his pro day). During his final season in college, he was productive, with 40 catches for 857 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Now, Roberts is being productive again – especially as a slot receiver. He’s earned the confidence of quarterback Derek Carr, a big plus.
Said Carr this week: “In the slot, something you want to see is if you can get a guy that has size and an explosive burst. And we have a lot of guys right now that have that size and that burst. We have guys competing, and it’s going to go down all the way to Week 1.”
