The Raiders opened training camp on Wednesday and while it’s too early to put stock in personnel groupings, it was interesting to see a report on the first-team wide receivers from day one of camp.
According to Las Vegas Review-Journal insider Vinny Bonsignore, the common denominators at wide receiver in the first 11-on-11 reps at practice were Jakobi Meyers and Dont’e Thornton.
Bonsignore noted that Jack Bech replaced Tre Tucker in the second series, but Thornton remained on the field.
The season opener isn’t for another six weeks, and the first day of camp won’t be a story in a few days, but the early impression is that the coaching staff wants to give Thornton as much offensive exposure as possible over the course of the training camp and preseason.
As for Bech, there’s a good chance his responsibilities on offense are going to be a little more complicated than Thornton’s.
Back in June, Thornton talked about Bech’s role in Chip Kelly’s offense and seemed to hint that the coaching staff had been moving the TCU star around in formations.
“Since we got here, me and [Bech] have been locked in from the moment we got in to Vegas. We always go out there and try to encourage each other to keep going and have a good day, constantly on top of each other to be productive,” Thornton said on the OLV Raiders Network. “I feel like he’s definitely doing a great job of that with him being moved around a lot, he’s taken it on and not really having too much problems with it.”
Thornton didn’t clarify what he meant by Bech being “moved around a lot” but it sounds like the former TCU star is going to be all over the formation – and therefore probably has a lot more to understand in terms of his responsibilities on offense.
x: @raidersbeat
Hey I welcome any and all forms of offensive creativity after what we were forced to settle for last season. Wish we still had HR, but we don’t do who’s next. DA wanted out and he got out. Not sure if AC wants to come back but if he does, I say roll out the welcome mat!!