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Raiders Mailbag: Top takeaways from first week of OTAs

May 22, 2025 at 03:16 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Eugene Pough from Pennsylvania asks:

"Thoughts on how many touches Jeanty gets per game?"

John Spytek certainly didn't make Ashton Jeanty the highest-drafted running back this year for him not to get touches.

In Wednesday's OTA practice, which was open to the media, he received the first reps in the backfield, demanding a lot of attention from the defense.

"He's doing great. He really is," Pete Carroll said. "He's right on point with everything that we're doing. He's studying really hard. He's been really diligent about all aspects. There's nothing that he doesn't find important. He's going to work hard on his pass protection, the third down type of work, see if he can contribute in that kind of a role as well. So, we're not holding anything back on him.

"He's getting a lot of plays," he continued. "I think he had the most plays for a running back yet on Monday. I don't know what the number was today, but it's there. So, he's getting a lot of turns."

It's still too early to put an estimation on how much Jeanty will get the ball, but he also helps his case for touches with his ability to catch the ball, totaling 80 receptions for 862 receiving yards and six touchdowns in his collegiate career.

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Gordon Erickson from Montana asks:

"Is the guy from North Dakota signed and will he be playing quarterback? If so he can pass to Touchdown Tommy or the other way around too!"

Cam Miller is the player you're referring to, who won two FCS national championships at North Dakota State.

He signed with the team on May 8, as did former Montana State quarterback Tommy Mellott. While Miller is expected to stay at quarterback, Mellott is making a transition to wide receiver. In OTAs and rookie minicamp, Mellott also found himself with the special teams unit on kick and punt return.

The Miller to Mellott connection is starting to come along from their reps together in rookie minicamp. While Mellott boasts exceptional athleticism running a 4.39 at his pro day, Miller is also a capable dual-threat quarterback who notched 2,101 yards and 44 touchdowns on the ground over four seasons with the Bison. Gordon, your vision of seeing a Mellott pass to Miller at some point isn't far-fetched.

"Most people look down on FCS football and that the level of competition isn't the same," Miller said. "But I think, no matter where you're at and if you, you know, love to compete and you're talented enough, the NFL is going to find you."

Larry Hopkins from Pennsylvania asks:

"How is the defense looking so far?"

Based off what I viewed Wednesday morning, pretty damn good Larry.

Patrick Graham's unit got after it, coming away with four turnovers in the team period portion of practice. Carroll was certainly pleased with their overall showing, pointing out the contributions of a few new free agent signings.

"Jeremy Chinn has really shown a lot already in leadership," Carroll said. "Elandon Roberts has already given us a real surge in the kind of confidence that you can spread to the rest of the players. E [Eric] Stokes has done a nice job too. He's jumped right up at the corner spot. So, we're getting a lot of really good, positive things from guys that have been there before and been on some good teams and done some good winning and all that, and they're helping the other guys."

"The defense in general, the coverage group, did a really nice job today," he added. "We stepped a couple things up from Monday and it showed."

The Silver and Black also got Maxx Crosby back on the field after rehabbing from ankle surgery at the end of last season. The expectations are, in due time, they'll pair Christian Wilkins and Malcolm Koonce alongside him once they're back to full health as well.

"He's here early, working hard, but we're still working it, and he's not ready to get back out," Carroll said of Wilkins' status. "And we're in the midst of a long, challenging process here. So, fortunately there's a lot of time, and we're going to take every bit of it. We've really tried to be really diligent about the way we've worked it and the way we've monitored it and all of that, and he's really been on board the whole time."

"Just recovering. Running around a little bit, starting to get back into football," Koonce said. "So, it's feeling great. ... I want to get back to where I was last year. I don't want to miss a step or lag behind."

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Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jakorian Bennett (0) at an Organized Team Activity (OTA) at Intermountain Health Performance Center.