Red Raiders in the pros - preseason edition

With the preseason over now, we take a look at some Red Raiders as they were trying to make the 53-man roster. We won’t be covering sure things, such as Amendola and Crabtree, but instead look at those players looking to take that next step.

Patrick Mahomes - Kansas City Chiefs

After Pat was drafted, it was pretty much a consensus that he would wait a full season learning the pro game, working on fundamentals such as footwork and going through reads, and limiting the amount of “street ball” that made him effective in college but would be harmful in the NFL. During the preseason he went 34-54 for 390 yards with 4 TD’s and no picks. His play caused many to believe that he could unseat Alex Smith for the starting role but KC GM Brett Veach has come out and said that Mahomes is still way behind Smith in the mental aspects of the position and is the clear #2 in the system. We’ll see for how long that remains the case.

Jakeem Grant - Miami Dolphins

Last season, Grant showed some flashes of greatness, but those were overshadowed and outnumbered by his fumbling of the ball. He was rumored to be on the edge of making the team heading intop the last week of the preseason and responded with a huge game. He only had 4 receptions, but piled up 141 yards as well as drawing 3 penalties in just two quarters of play. Right now he is listed as the backup receiver to DeVante Parker as well as the lead man on both kickoff and punt returns.

DeAndre Washington - Oakland Raiders

The Raiders made news this summer by signing Marshawn Lynch, which will the biggest hurdle that Washington has to making an impact for the team. Along with Jalen Richard, he will be a good change of pace back for a pass-happy Raiders squad looking to make some noise this year.

Other Red Raiders in the Pros

• LeRaven Clark started off his rookie year with poor play but progressed at a tremendous rate. Going into this season, some media in Indy have him as the starting RT, while others say that position is still TBD.
• Bradley Marquez was a special teams standout last season but injured his knee late in the season. The knee was still bothering him in training camp and he was waived, and then placed on IR, where he might remain all season.
• Cody Davis seems to have solidified his spot on the special teams unit of the Rams as well as the backup FS spot behind Lamarcus Joyner.
• Last season Kerry Hyder led the Lions in sacks, and was even at the top of the league leader board for most of last year. However in the 1st quarter of this year’s 1st preseason game he tore his achilles and will not play in 2017.
• Pete Robertson ended last season with the Redskins and spent the offseason training with his cousin Trent Williams, a pro bowl LT for Washington. He didn’t make the cut of 53 this year but did make their practice squad.
• La’Adrian Waddle is currently listed as the backup LT for the Patriots after suffering a concussion during the preseason on August 17th. He returned to the team just 5 days later.
• Jace Amaro (Titans), Ondre Pipkins (Redskins), and Branden Jackson (Raiders) were cut from their respective teams during final cuts this past weekend