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It’s about time. Past time, in fact, that Karl Joseph saw extensive playing time for the Raiders. He missed three games with injury this season, but has been active for six. And yet the full time starter in 2016 has barely seen the field in that time while the Raiders continued to trot out Reggie Nelson and Marcus Gilchrist each week for no good reason.
It became apparent a few weeks ago that this season was a wash. Since then the calls to get their young players on the field has gotten louder. Especially with regard to the safety position where playing a 35-year-old and a journeyman veteran is not the answer.
Joseph took the field with the starters for this game and would play 45 snaps (80%) which is easily a season-high for him. He finished third on the team with 5 tackles. Meanwhile, Reggie Nelson — who has started seven games this season — saw his snaps drop to just 12 (21%).
Likewise with rookie Nick Nelson who saw a season high 24 snaps (43%) while veteran Leon Hall’s snaps dropped to 12 (21%).
This is as it should be. Now if they could just get Erik Harris more snaps at strong safety and put Karl Joseph at free safety where he belongs. Baby steps.
Raiders week 10 snap counts
| . | . | Offense | . | Defense | . | Special Tms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | . | Offense | . | Defense | . | Special Tms |
| Player | Pos | Num | Pct | Num | Pct | Num |
| Gabe Jackson | G | 63 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 2 |
| Kolton Miller | T | 63 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 2 |
| Brandon Parker | T | 63 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 2 |
| Kelechi Osemele | G | 63 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 2 |
| Derek Carr | QB | 63 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Rodney Hudson | C | 63 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Brandon LaFell | WR | 57 | 90% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Jordy Nelson | WR | 43 | 68% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Jared Cook | TE | 37 | 59% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Martavis Bryant | WR | 35 | 56% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Doug Martin | RB | 30 | 48% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Seth Roberts | WR | 28 | 44% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Jalen Richard | RB | 27 | 43% | 0 | 0% | 0 |
| Lee Smith | TE | 23 | 37% | 0 | 0% | 8 |
| Derek Carrier | TE | 18 | 29% | 0 | 0% | 18 |
| Keith Smith | FB | 9 | 14% | 0 | 0% | 16 |
| DeAndre Washington | RB | 6 | 10% | 0 | 0% | 6 |
| Dwayne Harris | WR | 2 | 3% | 0 | 0% | 16 |
| Tahir Whitehead | LB | 0 | 0% | 56 | 100% | 4 |
| Marcus Gilchrist | FS | 0 | 0% | 50 | 89% | 6 |
| Karl Joseph | SS | 0 | 0% | 45 | 80% | 3 |
| Daryl Worley | CB | 0 | 0% | 44 | 79% | 6 |
| Maurice Hurst | DT | 0 | 0% | 39 | 70% | 0 |
| Johnathan Hankins | DT | 0 | 0% | 38 | 68% | 4 |
| Frostee Rucker | DE | 0 | 0% | 38 | 68% | 1 |
| Arden Key | DE | 0 | 0% | 37 | 66% | 3 |
| Gareon Conley | CB | 0 | 0% | 37 | 66% | 3 |
| Nicholas Morrow | LB | 0 | 0% | 36 | 64% | 16 |
| Rashaan Melvin | CB | 0 | 0% | 31 | 55% | 3 |
| Shilique Calhoun | DE | 0 | 0% | 24 | 43% | 16 |
| Nick Nelson | CB | 0 | 0% | 24 | 43% | 11 |
| P.J. Hall | DT | 0 | 0% | 24 | 43% | 0 |
| Marquel Lee | LB | 0 | 0% | 20 | 36% | 20 |
| Jason Cabinda | LB | 0 | 0% | 20 | 36% | 5 |
| Jacquies Smith | DE | 0 | 0% | 13 | 23% | 0 |
| Reggie Nelson | FS | 0 | 0% | 12 | 21% | 5 |
| Leon Hall | CB | 0 | 0% | 12 | 21% | 0 |
| Erik Harris | SS | 0 | 0% | 11 | 20% | 20 |
| Clinton McDonald | DT | 0 | 0% | 5 | 9% | 4 |
| Kyle Wilber | LB | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 19 |
| Trent Sieg | LS | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 6 |
| Johnny Townsend | P | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 6 |
| Daniel Carlson | K | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 5 |
| David Sharpe | T | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 2 |
| Jon Feliciano | G | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 2 |
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