Analyzing the Raiders' Rookie Class After Four Games

The Las Vegas Raiders have consistently expressed confidence in their draft class. That confidence will soon be tested.

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The Raiders entered the season under the impression that their rookie class would eventually make an impact on the season. Through the first four weeks of the season, that has hardly been the case, as the Raiders continue to put the pieces together.

Prior to Wednesday's practice, Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll gave insight into how he views the Raiders' rookie class.

"I don't even have an evaluation for that. I don't have any expectation for the draft class. There's a couple guys -- when you have a kid like Ashton [Jeanty] that's picked up high like that, and we were slotting him into a starting spot really from the beginning, that's different than the rest of the guys, but we just want to keep growing with these guys and make the right decisions along the way," Carroll said. 

“We don't do it because you think we should start guys because they've been drafted. That's not how we think. But I love playing young guys, and I love developing them, and we're in the process. You see that we're rotating the defensive tackles a little bit and trying to figure that out and make some good sense of that. On the offensive line in particular, we'd like to hold off as much as we can till these guys really can prove that they're ready, but you don't always have that opportunity."

Along with Jeanty, rookie wide receiver Dont'e Thornton has begun carving out a role in the Raiders' offense, while Jack Bech continues to fight to get onto the field.

Starting in Week 5, the Raiders will lean on their rookie class more than expected and do so sooner than they would have liked. Injuries to Kolton Miller and Eric Stokes will eventually mean rookies Charles Grant and Darien Porter will see the field much more than they did over the past month.

“So, Charles [Grant], he's working like crazy with a real concern for it, 'Now, I may have to play right now.' So, we're going to try to get that prepared, and if he does have to go in there and we need him, he'll go, but there's no expectations other than the real obvious ones. You fill a spot with a guy, they got to show it, and we got to bring it to life," Carroll said.

The Raiders would have preferred not to lose critical veterans such as Stokes and Miller, let alone this early in the season. While according to Carroll, Stokes feels good to go, he is undoubtedly banged up, giving Porter a chance to prove himself. The Raiders' rookie class will soon be put to the test.