Gutierrez: A glue guy, hype man and return threat, Dylan Laube wears many hats in the Raiders offense

Sep 19, 2025 at 10:03 AM

Paul Gutierrez

Raiders Columnist

From court jester to locker room hype man.

From unheralded rookie to core special teamer.

From losing a fumble on his first-ever NFL carry to being a trusted part of the Raiders offense.

Fine lines all, but two games into his second pro season, Dylan Laube is crossing them with a deftness that belies his small school resume. After all, New Hampshire, even as an FCS power, is far from a hot bed of NFL prospects. Same with his Long Island, New York, upbringing.

And that's just how the Raiders return man and backup running back likes it.

"A special teams guy, too, is definitely a guy with a chip on his shoulder," Laube told me this week on "Upon Further Review."

"And me, coming out of high school with only one offer and coming from a small school, I've always had that chip on my shoulder. I always knew that to be a back in this league, you also had to provide on special teams. Because if you're not the No. 1 back, you're going to be on punt, punt return, kickoff, so you have to have more of a variety of skill sets."

As in, being able to show off more than his dance moves, as impressive as they are. Remember, he won the initial Friday team Soul Train line dance-off of the 2024 season and was christened "Cheddar Bob" by Maxx Crosby, after the supporting character in the Eminem movie "8 Mile."

Rookie RB Dylan “Cheddar Bob” Laube wins the #Raiders Friday dance off…or somesuch. pic.twitter.com/r4qzDjEN7v
— Paul Gutierrez (@PaulHGutierrez) September 6, 2024

Thing was, life imitated art when Laube, a sixth-round draft pick, figuratively shot himself in the foot when he lost that first-carry fumble on a hit by Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt in Week 6.

Laube did not get another offensive touch the rest of the season.

Now?

Laube, a dark horse pick to even make the Raiders' 53-man roster out of training camp, has been active for both games. And after averaging 32.5 yards per kick return in the season opening win at New England - that leads all NFL players with at least two returns - he caught a pair of passes from Geno Smith late in the first half Monday night against the Chargers.

Laube's hands looked nice coming out of the backfield, and Laube credited his playing high school lacrosse.

"My receiving skill comes from a lacrosse aspect," he said. "Because it's just a true hand-eye sport. The game is so fast, from the sticks and the balls and just running across the field non-stop … you've got to be so quick every single second."

Oh yeah, the guy widely considered the best men's lacrosse player of all time had more than a little success as an NFL running back - Jim Brown. So maybe Laube is onto something.

Meanwhile, Raiders' first-year offensive coordinator Chip Kelly was familiar with Laube before taking the job, what with their shared New Hampshire lineage. Even as Kelly predated Laube on the Durham, N.H., campus by more than three decades and did not meet him until he came to Las Vegas.

"When I got here, you could just tell he had an amazing work ethic," Kelly said of Laube. "You could tell all the players on the team really respected him because of how he takes care of himself in the weight room, how he attacks the meeting room, how he attacks special teams. … He was a superstar at the FCS level at New Hampshire, and rightly so, because he's a heck of a football player."

Kelly also lauded how eager Laube is to pitch in, no matter the role.

"If we told him, 'Hey, we're going to switch and you go play defense,' he'd be like, 'Alright, where do you want me to play?'

"I mean, he's got that type of mindset. So, you need guys like that. He's a glue guy on this team. And I think all teams need people like Dylan on their team."

Hype man. Glue guy.

Another fine line for Laube to straddle. Especially as he gets more offensive touches.

"It also shows that the team has trust in me, too," Laube said. "Coming from my first snap on offense with a fumble, man, it could definitely take a toll on you. … I'm just so much more comfortable. I'm so much more prepared compared to Year 1, where you don't know what to expect. Of course, it's the NFL, it's the best of the best, but that Year 1 to Year 2 jump is so different, man. You're so much more comfortable. You know what to expect.

"It just shows that they truly trust me now, and it's just a cool feeling because now you've got guys behind you that just love your energy and love your enthusiasm and it's truly special and I think this team is going to go so far with that."

A fine line, indeed.

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Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker (1) during practice at Intermountain Health Performance Center.