Apr 25, 2025; Henderson, NV, USA; (L-R) Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek during a news conference introducing Ashton Jeanty as the first round draft pick in the 2025 NFL Draft at Intermountain Health Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Candice Ward-Imagn Images Candice Ward-Imagn Images

Which Raiders' Sleeper Defied All Odds to Make Roster

Originally posted on Las Vegas Raiders on SI
By Michael Canelo | Last updated Aug 29, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Head coach Pete Carroll always wants to have a good offensive line. That has been his thing for all the years that he has been coaching football at any level. He knows it all starts with a good offensive line. And if you do not have a good one, it is going to make it that much more difficult to have a good offense overall. And the Raiders are trying to get their offense in order this season and have a top one in the National Football League.

The Raiders' offensive line has been a good group so far this offseason. The Raiders' offensive line is made up of veterans and young, talented players. The Raiders coaching staff likes the mix of that and they are going to go with the best no matter if you are a veteran or a rookie.

For the Raiders to have a successful offense this season, the offensive line is going to have to play smash-mouth football. The way the Raiders have built this offensive line, it looks like they are going to want to punish their opponents on the ground by running the ball.

Will Putnam

Carroll and the coaching staff also know that depth is important at the offensive line positions. That is why the Raiders made sure they have a good second group as well. The second group is young and had their struggles in the preseason. But they will continue to get better, and they are getting built for the future.

One offensive lineman who opened eyes in training camp and had a good offseason was center Will Putnam. He has been good to watch, and he surprised a lot of people with his development from year one to year two.

Our Hondo Carpenter and Ezekiel Trezevant talked about Putnam in a recent episode of the "Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast."

"Let us talk about a guy we talked about a lot this offseason, you can see it, he is a player in this league, he may be a year away ... that is Will Putnam," said Carpenter. "We talked about it all camp that he was playing good. He just played it, so they could not risk it. He put good film and games out there, he would have never made the practice squad."

"He [Putnam] just pops," said Trezevant. "Every time he has gotten a chance, he has made an impact. He shows up in the film and the general manager and Pete Carroll are looking at the film every day. He has put a lot of good film."

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This article first appeared on Las Vegas Raiders on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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