Raiders Training Camp Day 8: Winners & Losers From Practice

Themes are emerging in this camp almost daily that demonstrate ownership and leadership's foundational commitment not just to winning, but to setting the groundwork for sustained success.

Today, I will point out specifically what the organization, especially Kubiak, is doing to make that come to fruition.

The Organization's Vision

The organization recognized after the collapse of 2025 that it had to change course, and it has. All the credit goes to management and ownership who recognized it, and set the course.

We can, and did, talk about it all offseason, but now that we are in the dog days of summer and in the midst of training camp, that vision is being executed flawlessly, and here are three examples.

1. Efficiency is a popular word to describe the Raiders' training camp. Kubiak isn’t wasting anyone's time; things are thought out, and a lot of work is getting done within the limited windows allowed by the CBA. Thomas Booker IV discussed how this training camp is different after being in Philadelphia.

“I guess the last training camp I was in was in Philly, but everything's so efficient here. That's the thing that sticks out to me. Going from period to period, from individual to team to seven-on-sevens, special teams periods. It's all going quickly. So, it feels efficient. It feels intentional. It feels purposeful, and obviously physical.”

2. Authenticity is in style in Henderson, and the Raiders want this team to be about business, and that business is football. Something WR coach Zach Azzanni sees coming out so far in this developing new direction for this storied franchise.

“What you see is what you get. It's no nonsense. And I think our team is taking that approach. There's not a lot of fluff. This is football. It's ball 24/7 here. And if you're not a tough guy mentally and physically, if you don't like to sit through 18 hours of meetings and practice for three hours, this probably isn't the place for you. And that's the culture he's creating."

3. No agendas, other than to improve and win. That mindset is so beneficial on this team and helps players to know that there are no protected players or groups. It is just about the Raiders. OL coach Rick Dennison sees that identity already emerging.

“There's no agendas. We're all trying to get better. It's going to take all of us. I think he's done a really good job, but I kind of expected that when I decided to come here. That would be the only reason I'd come here, because I felt really good about what Klint is going to do."

Now we turn our attention to the actual on-field play. Multiple rookies and veterans have had stellar camps, but here are the top four rookies and top six veterans from today, in my opinion.

The Veterans

QB Kirk Cousins

Stellar in every dimension of the game, from leadership to execution, Cousins is not only steering the offensive ship at QB1, but his practice habits, leadership, and intangible skills that don’t show up on stat sheets stand out.

Today, we quickly moved on from his primary and hot reads when the coverage warranted it, identifying who would be open in that coverage. Additionally, he looked off the defensive backs, creating an opportunity for a touchdown. Add to it that the precision craved by Kubiak is essentially the Cousins approach, and he is putting on a clinic for Fernando Mendoza and Aidan O’Connell on precision passing before the receiver is even out of his break.

I asked WR Coach Zach Azzanni about having a Kirk Cousins in camp, who players have to trust that he will have the ball in the right spot, and he has to trust that they will be there. His answer was fascinating football wisdom on what Kirk brings to the team.

"Yeah, this is a timing-based offense that Coach Kubiak's had for years. So, I've been with a lot of different quarterbacks, a lot of different kinds of guys that want things different. Kirk's really neat because within this offense he knows, 'Hey, when you turn around that ball is going to be on you. I need to be at 10 yards on the inside edge of the numbers and that's it.’ And I've been around other quarterbacks that they get a little more gray there for you, go work a little bit.”

He continued explaining the Cousins advantage, “It's easier to teach young receivers Kirk's style because we don't have to mess around with all the different looks. Just get there, seize the spot, paint a great picture for him within the timing of the play. Teach them the progression where they're at, which is what young guys like Malik [Benson] are starting to figure out. And that ball will be right on your face when you turn around."

LB Nakobe Dean

Nakobe Dean is a violent, athletic, and physical football player who plays at an incredibly high level. What most don’t know is that when he was coming out of high school in Mississippi, what won over his heart at the University of Georgia was not their football program; it was their engineering school. Don’t let the brilliant physical skill fool you; Dean (hours short of his degree) is a brilliant engineering mind, and every time he steps on the field, he is one of the smartest men.

It shows day after day in camp as he continues to make plays. Dean doesn’t just make the plays; he also moves guys multiple times per practice and puts them in the right spot.

I asked him today about his brain being underrated, and he picked UGA for the engineering school.

“I haven't graduated just yet. I still got a couple more hours. But the mental part of the game is everything for me. I feel like it's not only my great equalizers, it's my superpower. Training camp I try to make it hard. I don't try to scheme against our offense. I don't want to hear they call. I don't want to hear nothing. I want to be all pure instincts."

"But when you get to the season and you can watch film on the team and you can see tendencies of guys, or of a guy’s play call, it makes the whole game kind of easier and makes everything slow down."

P AJ Cole

I know that it isn’t normal to see punters get the praise, but in an organization that had Ray Guy, a great punter is part of the Raiders' DNA.

AJ Cole has shone as bright as anyone this camp, today booming one so high that at its apex it looked more like a Ping-Pong ball in the air and traveled 80 yards. He is the best punter in the NFL, and it isn’t close.

Able to flip the field with one kick, he is a rookie QB, and dare I say a rebuilding team’s best friend, and he is sensational. Not only is he an elite punter, but he is an even better person and leader. Something new special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis gushed over.

“I think AJ Cole is a guy that's definitely underappreciated around the league. He's a guy that I think deserves to be a leader. And what we try to tell the specialist is, even though you're not out there practicing 100% every single time, those guys have got to see you doing uncommon things."

"So, when he's in the weight room working, and when he's doing things as far as in tackling drills and stuff like that and they see that, they see the leadership, and he's just a really, really good person, a really, really good player, and a really, really good leader."

DT Tonka Hemingway

The Raiders' second-year defensive tackle continues to shine in training camp. Showing the explosion and aggression we saw in brief glimpses last year, but it is now blossoming into every single day. He is playing confidently, and that leads to playing faster, and it is evident.

Veteran DT Kwity Paye sees it and is very proud of the sophomore talent, who is making his hometown of Conway, S.C., proud.

“Oh man, he's been balling. He's been playing great ball. And if you ask anybody on the defense, they'll say the same thing. Tonka, he put in a lot of work this offseason. He got an award for the defense for the guys putting in the most work in the weight room. You see him every day in the building, he’s one of the first people in the building working and wanting to get better."

"And you can just see it in camp, like he's been popping up on the field everywhere. A couple other young guys, Jonah [Laulu], as I said before, Cian Slone has a motor. He's been out there balling as well. I'm very excited for this young group, it'll be good.”

DB Decamerion Richardson

He has now started stacking good days, and for the third-year player out of Cullen, Louisiana, that is great news. Today, he showed his physicality with the hit, his prowess in coverage, and even looked sharp on special teams. There is a reason the NFL calls the third year “the money year,” where young players prove they belong.

While there is a lot of camp left, he is making his case early by standing out with production and effort. On two different occasions today, he lit up the defensive sideline, which appreciated his effort.

LB Cody Lindenberg

He has not had a bad camp whatsoever. Today, though, he shone bright in the passing phase of the defense. Lindenberg, whom I previewed at length in the position preview, has a knack for the game and an ability to impact it in unique ways. It was good to see him today emerge from the positive steps of a rookie campaign to making a significant impact. He has solid skills, and today he showed them off. At one point even earned the cheers of the defensive sideline.

The Rookies

Multiple rookies had good days today, which is not unexpected given the job Spytek and his staff have done in flipping the skill set of the roster. But, for brevity, I will discuss four.

QB Fernando Mendoza

The terrific young QB who earned pre-draft praise from NFL executives responded to a rough day on Monday but is playing strongly. I am still flabbergasted that, after six practices, the expert sharpshooter has thrown only one interception. That, in my opinion, is the most important stat so far in his rookie campaign.

Today, he didn’t look as good as Cousins, and he shouldn’t. One is a 15-year pro, the other a rookie, but he has flashed all the skill sets that made him the No. 1 overall pick, and there’s nothing to lessen the expectations that come with where he was picked.

He wasn’t uptight today, which would have been a natural reaction to a rough day, but instead was in the moment, teachable, and putting the ball down the field and on the money. Already developing a terrific chemistry with fellow rookie Malik Benson, the young man had a terrific day.

Azzanni discussed the rookie’s relationship and what that could mean for the Raiders.

"I think so. They're good people. [John Spytek] and that department did a great job of bringing in some good humans, so they naturally gravitate to each other off the field. They're good people and they're outgoing, so they're building a good relationship. That's going to be super important. We're trying to capture those things we cannot measure, and they do that by themselves off the field which is great."

OL Trey Zuhn III

The young man has the skill set to play every position on the line, and they are giving him the room to do so daily. You never know which spot he will line up at, and he certainly has rookie mistakes, but he also has flashes of what he is going to be. What stood out today was that even while moving, sometimes from play to play, to different positions, he is so highly intelligent that he can play a different position 25 seconds after playing another.

His football IQ is off the charts, and this coaching staff is pushing him, and he is doing well.

The NFL's best OL coach, Rick Dennison, broke down Zuhn’s impressive emergence after practice.

"I think it's just versatility. I think he's got a good skill set, along with a lot of them. I think a lot of guys can move around, and we're just trying to see, let him use all the skills he's got, see what looks best, and we're trying to find the best five. I don't know what those are going to be right now. It's way too early to figure that one out. We've got to play a couple games in my mind, and when we do it's good to say Trey has played this spot or that spot, he's played a lot of spots."

"But I've had other guys play as many. Both our guards have flipped back and forth. We've had tackles flip back and forth. So, I think everybody's done a really good job of kind of working their assignments on different sides. It's not as easy as it looks just saying I'm going from the left to the right. Footwork is a lot tougher than you think, but he's done a good job and so have the rest of them."

WR Malik Benson

Every single day in practice, he makes plays, and I can safely tell you, in my opinion, he is clearly the WR3 on this team. He is moving effortlessly in and out of the route tree, looking and willing to be a downfield blocker, and despite the offensive success, embracing special teams and making plays. It is impossible not to see his movement as his play demands attention.

I asked Azzanni today about giving him the praise he has earned while protecting him from becoming overconfident early. His answer was enlightening.

"I don't want to pat him on the head too much because he's a puppy. And if you pet that puppy for too long, he's not going to bite when that guy, that intruder walks in the house. You got to be hard on him so when that intruder comes in, he bites. So, I'm up and down. He never knows where I'm coming from. I keep him on his toes and keep him uncomfortable. And to the kid's credit, he just keeps coming back, which is like Freddy Krueger. I love it.”

DE Cian Slone

The young man has shone athletically and physically. As one of the hidden gem UDFAs that Spytek gathered after the NFL Draft, I can tell you that while I am not convinced there is a 53-man roster spot available for him to start the season, if he is on the Raiders practice squad, I predict he will play in regular-season games, getting called up this year.

He has the skill set to play in the league, and he is raw, but the framework, work ethic, and want-to of an NFL player are there, and he is showing up, which is what you have to get from a UDFA. He is getting noticed, and he is interesting to watch.

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