The Oakland Raiders added a return specialist on Wednesday, albeit an aging one. Former Denver Broncos punt returner Trindon Holliday has been signed by the team, according to an NFL Media report. The signing adds depth to a thin and unsure position for the Raiders.
Holliday, a 5-foot-5 speed back out of LSU taken by the Houston Texans in the 2010 NFL Draft, is coming off a rocky 2014 season where he played for the New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers.
From 2012-2013, Trindon Holliday scored two punt return and two kick return touchdowns for the Broncos. The Raiders will hope Holliday can use his trademark speed to improve a return unit that has been among the league’s worst in recent years.
You may remember Holliday torching the Baltimore Ravens on this 104-yard kickoff return in the 2013 AFC Playoffs.
The signing of a 29-year-old returner shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, especially with a report that Raiders’ seventh-round pick Andre Debose has been waived due to an Achilles tendon injury. ESPN Raiders writer Bill Williamson wrote before the wide receiver’s injury that he expected Debose to be ahead of Holliday on the team’s depth chart going into training camp. That obviously won’t happen now, so Trindon Holliday will likely be competing with incumbent returner T.J. Carrie and seventh-round pick Dexter McDonald for the No. 1 returner spot.
I’d say that this is a good signing by the Raiders. Holliday not only brings intense speed to the table but something else that Carrie and McDonald are yet to acquire—experience. Oakland desperately needs to find a designated return specialist. T.J. Carrie is a better cornerback than returner, and the team would be wise to not risk him being injured on special teams.
Adding speed has always been a Raiders tradition, but only time will tell if Trindon Holliday can make an impact in 2015.
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