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Gutierrez: Building a roster is not checkers, not chess – just complicated

Aug 28, 2025 at 09:00 AM

Paul Gutierrez

Raiders Columnist

This was…strange.

For the first time in, well, ever, I had a hard time filling out a 53-player roster projection for the Raiders.

But not for the routine reasons.

Usually, the masochistic exercise begins by filling in the names of all the players you believe have a good shot at making the team. Position group by position group.

And don't forget the three slots for the specialists.

Suddenly, you find you're at, like, 59 players, or more. So you begin the sadistic chore of chopping, while wondering what position groups suffer as a result.

With Pete Carroll being a defensive back guru, might he carry more DBs than normal?

What about that linebacker corps that is either A) too grizzled or B) too green? Surely they need numbers.

But the reimagined offensive line needs bodies, too, right?

Swing, swing, swing. And chop, chop, chop.

This time?

My initial count stopped at…49. Forty-nine! I didn't have to chop, I had to add.

Yeah, strange. But what did it mean? Surely it could not have meant there were not 53 NFL-caliber players at the Raiders' immediate disposal.

Well…

It had to mean the Raiders had a top-heavy roster, one filled with All-Pros like tight end Brock Bowers, punter AJ Cole and kicker Daniel Carlson. Pro Bowlers like edge rusher Maxx Crosby and quarterback Geno Smith. Ascending players like receiver Jakobi Meyers and safety Jeremy Chinn. Those aforementioned grizzled vets like linebackers Devin White, Jamal Adams and Elandon Roberts. Exciting rookies like running back Ashton Jeanty and receiver Dont'e Thornton.

Otherwise…

Where's the depth?

Indeed, the dropoff from the starters to the backups is immense.

The Raiders, under the new management of Carroll and General Manager John Spytek, gave some semblance of credence to the theory.

They signed a pair of free agents off the street in receiver Amari Cooper, who had a career-low 547 receiving yards last season, and swing tackle Stone Forsythe, who played for Carroll in Seattle, while claiming off waivers from the Rams linebacker Brennan Jackson, who is closer to green than grizzled.

And with sixth-round pick Cam Miller not yet ready to assume the throne of backup quarterback to Geno Smith in the wake of Aidan O'Connell's broken right wrist, suffered in the exhibition finale against the Cardinals, the Raiders had to trade for fourth-year pro Kenny Pickett.

"It would be a lot to ask a rookie from North Dakota State to be the No. 2 guy going into New England in Week 1," Spytek said of Miller on Wednesday. "So, we felt like it was a great move for us."

It should be noted that Miller did not make the initial 53-man roster. He was, however, later signed to the practice squad.

In fact, all 17 members of the Raiders practice squad were with the team in camp. And nine of Spytek's 11 draft picks made the 53-man roster, with only converted receiver Tommy Mellott unaccounted for by the end of business Wednesday night.

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There's sometimes a tug-of-war in visions between a coaching staff and the front office, from wanting to go all in now to win at the cost of the future and, perhaps, sacrificing a little bit of the present to build for the future.

"We're always going to try to find guys at different times that can help our team win," Spytek said. "And I think I love the idea of playing rookies.

"Sometimes, I think it's really easy for me to sit up here and say, 'Play the rookies,' because I don't have to call the plays and coach them up and get the quarterback to feel like they can trust him."

Spytek was speaking about the young receivers, but he could have been talking about the entire locker room. It's a delicate dance and the Raiders' initial 53-man roster and its immediate ensuing versions reflect exactly that…for now.

"There were a lot of hard decisions that we made the last couple days," Spytek said. "And ultimately, our responsibility, Coach and myself, is to put the best 53, and then 17 after that, [on the field] and to get ready to win football games.

"And there's always a development part of that, too. But there's a reality, sometimes [of] who was most ready and who was furthest along and who could help this team win the most."

It's not checkers but it's not 4D Chess, either. Building a 53-man roster in your first year working together is an inexact science. Whether you have to chop, or add.

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Las Vegas Raiders long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer (50) during practice at Intermountain Health Performance Center.