The Las Vegas Raiders had their first rookie minicamp session on Friday, with the second coming on Saturday. Day 1 was our first chance to see the 2024 NFL Draft class and 17 undrafted free agents the team signed in action.
Before practice, head coach Antonio Pierce likened the session to “elementary school” and called the draft class as a whole “some gritty, grimy, nasty, back-alley guys,” per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur.
Pierce also made it abundantly clear that everyone was starting from the same point, no matter where they came from.
“We’ve got 32 Raiders here,” he said. “I don’t care if he’s the 13th pick or the guy that’s trying out. They’ve got a Raider uniform on, we’re going to treat them accordingly. They earned the right to stay here, they earned the right to get more reps. I’m just excited to get them here, man. It’s just good to get a full roster.”
Now, a look at the biggest takeaways from Day 1.
Raiders rookie minicamp takeaways
Brock Bowers turns heads
Bowers wasted no time showing the goods that got him drafted with the No. 13 overall pick. He shined thanks to his athleticism and explosiveness, and the Raiders used him all over the field.
The Athletic’s Vic Tafur: “The explosiveness of Brock Bowers is on display on the rookie camp practice field.”
Raiders rookie Brock Bowers is already demonstrating some serious burst after the catch in minicamp.
🎥: By @Sean_Zittel, Vegas Sports Today#RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/sIDO2jzGtV
— Vegas Sports Today (@VegasSportsTD) May 10, 2024
Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal: “Brock Bowers athleticism is as advertised. Dude has a few different gears and smoothly gets to them. Raiders have lined him up pretty much everywhere.”
It’s only one day, but you can already feel the excitement building for the Raiders’ first-round pick.
Jackson Powers-Johnson plays LG
The thought was that JPJ would play at right guard after Dylan Parham started on the left side in 2023, but the rookie saw reps on the left side instead. Granted, it’s only one day of rookie minicamp, but it’s notable nonetheless.
“An interesting nugget from day one of Raiders rookie minicamp today,” Jesse Merrick of News 3 Las Vegas wrote. “May not mean much BUT they had rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson working at LG. Wonder if that means they’re planning on moving Parham to RG and letting the rook work alongside Kolton Miller?”
Raiders rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson already looks ready to knock someone to the ground in minicamp.
Just LISTEN to that sound.
🎥: By @Sean_Zittel, Vegas Sports Today#RaiderNation pic.twitter.com/52PK1vzUc1
— Vegas Sports Today (@VegasSportsTD) May 10, 2024
Parham has played the vast majority of his snaps at left guard in the NFL, but did see 110 snaps at right guard during his rookie season and played there in college.
Tommy Eichenberg has green dot potential?
Nobody knows linebackers like head coach Antonio Pierce, who was one during his days in the NFL.
#Raiders rookie LBs going through form tackling drills
Interested to see what kind of player #45 Tommy Eichenberg is once they put the pads on in camp…first LB taken by Antonio Pierce so you know he’s gonna play with an edge pic.twitter.com/oezajL9oOd
— Jesse Merrick (@JesseNews3LV) May 10, 2024
He is clearly excited about linebacker and Ohio State product, Tommy Eichenberg, who he called an old school LB and a leader.
Pierce also believes Eichenberg can wear the green dot, per Mitchell Renz of Raiders Report.
Delmar “DJ” Glaze open to guard
Third-round pick Delmar Glaze prefers to be called DJ, so act accordingly. The Maryland product is billed as a tackle after playing both spots in college but said he can play guard if the team needs, per Levi Damien of Raiders Wire.
General manager Tom Telesco said after the draft that he views the rookie as a tackle but didn’t rule out Glaze seeing time at guard.
That will likely be the fallback option for him if things don’t work out at tackle.
A little love for UDFA QB
Undrafted free-agent quarterback Carter Bradley got a little love from Bonsignore, who wrote that the signal-caller “throws a nice ball.”
Tafur noted that Bradley connected with fellow UDFA and wide receiver, Ramel Keyton, on a deep ball during the session.
Of course, nobody is ready to throw Bradley in the Hall of Fame just yet, but it’s a good start for the undrafted rookie out of South Alabama.
