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What condition Raiders position is in pre-free agency 2019: Wide receiver

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We check on each Raiders position ahead of free agency to give it a condition of either Strong, Stable, Unstable, Serious, or Critical.

Oakland Raiders v Miami Dolphins Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images

Starters: Jordy Nelson, Marcell Ateman

Backups: Seth Roberts, Keon Hatcher, Saeed Blacknall, Rashard Davis,

Free agents: Dwayne Harris, Brandon LaFell

It’s almost funny to think how excited a lot of fans were at the possibility of a wide receiver group in Oakland comprised of Amari Cooper, Jordy Nelson, Martavis Bryant, Ryan Switzer, and Seth Roberts. The possibilities seemed endless. Then those possibilities ended. And it wasn’t a soft landing.

Switzer was traded away before the season. Amari Cooper and Jordy Nelson each had one good game, Martavis Bryant was a ghost and the Raiders were sitting at 1-5.

From there, Cooper was traded to Dallas, Bryant went on IR and was later suspended, Nelson struggled with injuries, Brandon LaFell went from inactive to starter before he was lost for the season, and Ateman was called up from the practice squad and named a starter.

By the time the season was over, Nelson had rebounded over the finale few games to finish second on the team in receiving (739) behind tight end Jared Cook, and Seth Roberts was the only consistent presence as the team’s slot receiver.

Dwayne Harris is really more of a special teams guy than a wide receiver and the rest of the guys are roster hopefuls.

Condition: Critical

When your top receiver is about to turn 34 years old and your other starter was a seventh round rookie you called up from the practice squad, you’ve got serious problems. Seth Roberts is a potential cut as well. The Raiders don’t just need a wide receiver desperately, they need several.

Poll

What position do you think the Raiders wide receiver position is in?

This poll is closed

  • 1%
    Strong
    (12 votes)
  • 1%
    Stable
    (14 votes)
  • 8%
    Unstable
    (91 votes)
  • 16%
    Serious
    (185 votes)
  • 72%
    Critical
    (793 votes)
1095 votes total Vote Now

Also see: QB I RB I TE I OT I G I C I DI I ED I LB I CB