Who’s in, who’s out for Raiders vs. Dolphins: Maliek Collins will play, Takk McKinley will not
Raiders activate Maliek Collins but not Takk McKinley, who has one more chance to take the field
The week’s revolving door of available players for the Raiders heading in to Saturday night’s game against the Miami Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium includes the return of defensive tackle Maliek Collins, while Takk McKinley sits for the fifth straight week after being a waiver claim.
The Raiders will be without defensive secondary coach Jim O’Neil and assistant Taver Johnson for COVID-19 concerns, the team announced. Earlier this week, it was expected O’Neil would be out and Johnson would coach the secondary. Their duties will be handled by the defensive staff.
A look at who will play and who will not after Saturday’s transactions and inactivees:
They’re in
QB Derek Carr: Coach Jon Gruden reveres players who fight through injury and he respects Carr immensely. That’s not to say that if Carr is unable to throw with his usual authority or move well enough to escape trouble that Gruden won’t pull the plug and go with Marcus Mariota. The Raiders have prepared for both possibilities. So have the Dolphins.
S Johnathan Abram: Missed a 30-27 overtime loss to the Chargers with a concussion, didn’t travel to New Jersey for the Jets game and has an earlier missed game for contact tracing on the COVID-19 list. The Raiders believed at the beginning of the season that of all the players on their defensive roster, Abram has the best potential be a difference maker. But it’s been literally hit and miss.
DT Maliek Collins: Spent three games on injured reserve with a shoulder and was activated Saturday. He’ll get some work inside along with Johnathan Hankins. Signed a one-year contract worth $6 million in hopes of hitting the market again next year and getting a multi-year deal. Barring something remarkable in the last two games, he’ll be doing the same thing this offseason.
CB Damon Arnette: Has played in seven games with six starts, dealing with a thumb injury that eventually needed surgery, a stint on injured reserve and then concussions in back to back games against the New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts. That’s a lot of lost developmental time for a first-round draft pick. Given the concussions, he’ll be watched closely.
WR Henry Ruggs III: Off the COVID-19 reserve list, Ruggs got limited practice time this week but is available should Gruden want to throw the ball downfield or run some fly sweeps or bubble screens. The thinking was those types of plays would be a big part of Ruggs’ rookie season. They haven’t been.
CB Nevin Lawson: Missed his second game of the season against the Chargers (missed the opener on suspension) with an illness.
CB Isaiah Johnson: Other than 60 snaps in the first game against the Chargers where Johnson made the game-clinching breakup in the end zone and 50 snaps in a blowout loss to Atlanta, Johnson has played sparingly in what ideally would have been a year of development. Activated from a four-day stint on the COVID-19 reseve list on Wednesday.
LB Javin White: Activated from the practice squad for the fourth time, White, the McClymonds High and UNLV product, has played exactly one defensive snap and played 30 snaps on special teams.
LB James Onwualu: Activated from practice squad for the first time, has 268 career snaps for the Chargers (2017) and 49ers (2018) and every one of them have been on special teams. Onwualu, as well as White, could be needed if linebacker Kyle Wilber, a core special teams player, has a bigger role defensively because of depth issues.
CB Rashaan Gaulden: Activated from the practice squad for the second time, Gaulden played three special teams snaps last week in a the 30-27 overtime loss to the Chargers.
They’re out
LB Nick Kwiatkoski: Placed on COVID-19 reserve list this week, Kwiatkoski signed a three-year, $21 million free agent contract with more than $13.7 guaranteed. He is the only one of the big ticket free agents to approach the level the Raiders expected at signing. The analytics site Profootballfocus.com had Kwiatkoski as an AFC Pro Bowl linebacker.
LB Nicholas Morrow: Placed on the COVID-19 reserve list this week, Morrow was for a time the Raiders best defensive player after Cory Littleton went on the COVID-19 reserve list. He trails Kwiatkoski (81) and Abram (77) for the team lead in tackles but is second to Maxx Crosby in tackles for loss with seven.
DE Clelin Ferrell: Out with a shoulder injury for the second straight week, Ferrell also missed two games on the COVID-19 list and in his second season after being the No. 4 overall pick in the draft has two sacks and 10 quarterback hits despite playing a higher percentage of snaps per game when active of any lineman except Crosby.
DE Takk McKinley: Signed on Nov. 23 as a waiver claim from Atlanta, McKinley was initially claimed by Cincinnati and the 49ers, both of which failed him on a physical. Gruden has talked about how much he wants to see McKinley play, but just one chance remains against Denver in the finale. So far, the Raiders have paid McKinley just under $550,000 for five weeks of rehab. He is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
S Erik Harris: Placed on the COVID-19 list this week, Harris hasn’t had a good season but at least he’s been available. Week 16 will be his first missed game of the season.
CB Daryl Worley: Placed on the COVID-19 list this week, Worley was Brought back to the Raiders after being cut by Buffalo and immediately played 37 snaps against the Chargers, giving up three completions totaling 60 yards.
QB Nathan Peterman: Inactive for the third consecutive game after serving the first 11 games as the backup to Carr. He held the No. 2 position until Mariota was ready to play.
OT Brandon Parker: Designated as inactive. With Trent Brown healthy, Parker has gone back to being inactive after playing in 10 games with four starts. Sam Young will serve as the backup swing tackle.
RB: Theo Riddick: Designated as inactive. Josh Jacobs, Devontae Booker and Jalen Richard will comprise the backfield along with fullback Alec Ingold.
DE Chris Smith: Designated as inactive. Has played in seven games, spending most of his time on the practice squad until sticking on the 53-man roster.
CB: Amik Robertson: Designated as inactive. A fourth-round draft pick, Robertson has played in eight game but has played no more than 14 snaps in any of them — a small amount considering the difficulties the secondary has had this season.
Comments
Post a Comment