Raiders Training Camp Day 3: Winners, Losers & Takeaways

What Stood Out

1. The coaching was on full display today. From coaches coaching players and other coaches, to players coaching players, and players coaching coaches. That tells you about the depth of the team’s commitment to each other and improving. No ego. DC Rob Leonard illuminated that when he told of MLB Nakobe Dean kicking him out of the huddle.

“Command. Confidence. 'Robbie, get out of my huddle. I got it.' I want to get up in there and start up, but that's not reality of how the game's played. Just leadership. It feels good to have that at the mike linebacker."

2. Klint Kubiak has been respected his entire coaching career for being a person totally committed to the small things, the tiniest of details. That shows he lets his coaches coach, but today, when he jumped in, it wasn’t over big mistakes; it was over the tiniest.

3. Business is business is the best way to describe this camp. The collegiate rah-rah and the hype of the past are gone. Celebrations will come after wins, but not in practice. This is a business setting, and business is being conducted. Don’t mistake that for people not having fun; Kubiak wants them to embrace the fun of winning and the price it takes to get there.

4. It would be unfair to single one out; although Brock Bowers deserves the praise every day, the tight end room looks sharp. Executing plays and moving in space have looked good, and they will be key parts of the passing attack until the WR room is figured out.

Who Stood Out

Several players stood out today, but I will break down four rookies and six veterans specifically for this article. My podcast at the end will feature much more.

The Rookies

QB Fernando Mendoza

The youngster carries a heavy weight on his shoulders as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. But the man who multiple executives ranked as the best QB prospect in the last four years looked far more comfortable today. He was moving guys into the right position, his passes were crisp, and while he still looks like a rookie, he showed, for the second straight day, flashes of why he was picked where he was.

I asked him after practice about his comfort, and moving guys and giving direction.

“I think it also stems with the relationship everybody has with each other, especially as you see in OTAs and day one, and even sometimes today in day two. It's a very small sample size being one day.”

Mendoza added, “But there's a lot of times that the offensive line would correct me. The running backs, tight ends, receivers, they would help put me in place. It's that relationship that we have, that dynamic relationship where we can hold each other accountable, but not in a way of being demeaning or in a negative light. In a positive way, ‘Hey, we want to move the ball and move the chains.’ ‘Hey, this is what I heard.’ ‘Hey, you know maybe there's confusion, let's clear it up on both ends.’"

RB Mike Washington Jr.

The Raiders loved MWJ before the draft and were thrilled to land him. He didn’t flash yesterday, good or bad, but he did today. He showed his power in the running game and his acceleration, but also made a mark in the passing game. He wasn’t picked to replace Ashton Jeanty, but to complement him. MWJ is not just a complement; he is a terrific back and showed versatility.

OL Trey Zuhn III

Zuhner (pun intended), or later, the youngster is going to land at a spot and hold it. Until then, the most versatile player on the offense, not named Brock Bowers, plays multiple spots (all five) along the offensive line and looks great at them all. This youngster is the absolute real deal and has Brock Bowers and Quay Walker (defense) vibes. He is a star ready to shine.

CB Hezekiah Masses

For months, going back to multiple of my mock drafts way before the draft, I had Masses to the Raiders because I continually heard how the organization liked him. Masses continues to shine with the ones, and what will tell the story about him is if he can prove his college tape wrong and handle the physicality of the NFL when the pads come on.

DC Rob Leonard spoke of him a short time ago, and his excitement was tangible.

"Yeah, it truly is competitive from the ones, the twos, the threes. We're really trying to make it a fair competition, but he's controlling everything he can. He has that good balance right now of being humble as a rookie but being confident enough in what we're asking him to do to go out and execute. He's not scared to make a play. He's been doing a good job."

The Veterans

RB Dylan Laube

The pride of the Hamptons has parlayed a terrific OTA and minicamp campaign into his best training camp yet. He continues to show off the toughness and grit one would expect from a young man from Cleveland or Pittsburgh, not the Hamptons.

His blue-collar approach to the game is why coaches and teammates love him. Putting his head and tiny frame in the way of defenders when blocking, running routes with precision, and an attacking running style that sacrifices his own body are just a few of the things that set him apart. He isn’t going to replace Jeanty or MWJ, but what he will do, and has done, is make it clear you can’t judge a book by the cover and show the heart of a lion in a very small frame.

CB Taron Johnson

Taron jumped on the national radar when Aaron Rodgers said of him, "Johnson is one of the best players in the league, one of the most underrated players. He can play a box linebacker and stop the run, and he can cover guys." 

He looked terrific today, attacking and always winning at the football. I expect him to shine this year and parlay that into a nice and lucrative extension from the team. That will come later, but for today, he looked the part. DC Leonard loves what he brings to the Raiders.

“Same thing like with Nakobe; confidence, anticipation, command. Even if we're not right, he's going to make a call and go. Guys listen to him. Physicality, just honestly, he's like an energy bus guy. I love those guys, energizer bunny, he's one of those."

G Caleb Rogers

I spoke at length about his skill set in my offensive line position preview, so I won’t do that here. What I will tell you is that I made it clear he was in the mix for one of the top guard spots in the starting rotation, and he has done nothing to change that opinion. Today, when most of the offensive line struggled, four of them did not, and Rogers was one of them.

Days like today, especially when the pads come on, will separate him and push him eventually into Rick Dennison’s starting five, and more specifically, one of the two starting guard spots.

RB Ashton Jeanty

One of the finest young men you will ever meet, the Raiders' top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft has gone to a new level under the Klint Kubiak-led transition. We all know his talents, but today he led—multiple times speaking out, speaking up, and helping younger players and veterans. We already know what he can do on the field, but if his leadership grows, he can go from good to elite.

Part of it, I am sure, is the tremendously improved leadership of the new staff; part of it is that even though last year he looked chiseled out of granite, he looks even better now. He addressed his being more vocal and leading after practice.

“I think being more vocal for sure. I mean, it's always tough being in the first year trying to figure out so much stuff. But this year, there's a lot of expectations for me and I think I've got to make a big jump. I think that starts with helping my teammates as well and just being a better teammate. So, I think that starts with leadership."

DT Tonka Hemingway

This youngster is hard not to love and came out of this training camp on fire today. Today, DC Rob Leonard used him like a weapon, and he did what a young player has to do: he made the most of the opportunity. He made offensive linemen look miserable as he was hostile, agile, and mobile, moving in ways I have not seen from him before. Leonard spoke of the trust Hemingway has earned and his maturation in glowing terms.

"Maturity, consistency. I mean, he is quiet now, but he has done everything right that he controls from the offseason. Learned a lot of his routine from Maxx. It's been fun to watch him develop as a man, as a player, and now he's got to carry it over to pads."

WR Phillip Dorsett

At 33 years old on a rebuilding team, Dorsett would appear to be the odd man out in an anemic wide receiver room. Conventional wisdom would be to determine that a rebuilding roster needs to fill that spot with some young, but talented options who could be significant contributors once this team is poised to compete for the NFL Playoffs every year starting in 2028.

Conventional wisdom is not always right, but he is trying to make it hard to follow that. Dorsett was the only WR who stood out today, making more than one excellent play and attempting to make Kubiak and Spytek’s job difficult.

Check Out Our Entire Podcast on Today’s Practice