There are a lot of exciting drafted rookies on this Raiders team. But that's just ten of the rookies. There are nearly twice as many undrafted guys looking to make a roster with a lot of openings on it.
Those hopefuls had their first game action on Thursday night and according to head coach Klint Kubiak, a few of them especially caught his eye.
“Cian [Slone] on defense has done some good stuff. At the wide receiver position we got a few guys that have showed up between Chase [Roberts] and our and our young man from Indiana [EJ Williams]," said Kubiak. "All got some good snaps yesterday."
Slone led the way among those three with 29 combined snaps on defense (21) and special teams (eight). Only four guys on the team got more special teams snaps. Roberts got 16 combined snaps on offense (14) and special teams (two) while Williams got 10 combined snaps on offense (seven) and special teams (three).
As for stats, Slone had a sack along with three combined tackles. EJ Williams' 41-yard catch had him lead the team in receiving yards. While Roberts saw two targets, pulling in one catch for 12 yards.
That work is great, but Kubiak points to another area that will mean more when it comes roster decision time.
"There's potential for those guys at the bottom of the roster to show what they can do on special teams and try to help us, so that'll be a good thing to watch, too, in the last 2 games.”
There are 15 other undrafted guys who know what they need to do to have a shot at making this roster as well.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Klint Kubiak highlights 3 undrafted rookies, how they make Raiders roster