The Las Vegas Raiders put out their latest depth chart on Tuesday and one of the bigger surprises from it was the wide receiver position.
The Raiders' first regular season depth chart had rookie Dont'e Thornton remaining in a starting spot. That's surprising because the thought was that veteran Amari Cooper would take over there after being signed in free agency.
Instead, Cooper is listed as the backup to fellow veteran Jakobi Meyers, and Tre Tucker is listed as the other starter, with rookie Jack Bech filling in behind him.
“We thought a chance to add a guy like [Cooper], with experience, really to help our young guys, might really suit us well,” Carroll told reporters on Thursday.
“And so, for Dont’e [Thornton] on the outside, they’ll be doing a lot of the same stuff. I think Amari’s way can affect him and help him come along. There’s a lot of pressure for him to be the only X over there that we’re kind of going with, so I think this really balances us out well. And I hope it really suits Jack [Bech] and Dont’e.”
Thornton has been one of the bigger standouts for the Raiders during the offseason, although he was fairly quiet in exhibition play with three catches for 43 yards and a touchdown.
However, it's clear the Raiders are very high on Thornton and it's not hard to see why. Thornton has an intriguing blend of size (6-foot-5) and speed (4.3-second 40-yard dash).
While Thornton is no doubt going to get some snaps early on this season, we still believe he and Cooper will be rotating, at least fairly often.
The wild card in that situation is Cooper just signed, so he has to get acclimated in the Raiders' offense and might need time to get himself in football shape, if he isn't already.
We'll have a better idea of how things will go when the Raiders meet the New England Patriots in Week 1 on Sunday.
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