Latest Raiders Storylines (Clowney, Carr, Renfrow) With the Season Opener Less Than 4 Weeks Away

With no preseason games and limited reports from training camp, this year could be harder than most to figure out what the Raiders will look like when the season gets underway.

Nevertheless, let’s try to sort through a few of the storylines that have been making the rounds during camp.

1 – With so many playmakers on the Raiders new-look offense, some are anticipating that Hunter Renfrow won’t have much of a numbers jump in his sophomore season.

But anyone who has watched Derek Carr knows that he tends to play favorites. More specifically, he loves to throw to players he trusts. It’s already obvious that Carr really trusts Renfrow and they are almost always on the same page. Draft Renfrow in your fantasy leagues. He’s going to catch a lot of passes this year.

2 – Why all the fuss about Derek Carr having a great training camp this year?

There isn’t a “new look” Carr coming to the Raiders. He’s in his third year with Gruden so he should be better, but the idea that Carr has found himself or is somehow a different person seems like a lazy narrative. He has been standing out at training camp for years.

If anything, the running storyline should be that there are better players around Carr than at any point in his career. That’s the biggest difference between this year and others.

3 – Marcus Mariota isn’t taking the starting job from a healthy Derek Carr.

Sure, he’s a talented quarterback, but Mariota isn’t going to understand Gruden’s offense anywhere near well enough to steal the starting job. Gruden didn’t spend three years building the offense with and around Carr just to start over with Mariota.

It also doesn’t sound like Mariota is off to a rip roaring start in camp. So let’s bury the talk of a quarterback controversy for a while.

4 – An ESPN report last week talked about Nelson Agholor, Zay Jones, and Bryan Edwards getting first team reps at wide receiver.

If it was the first week of September and Edwards was running first team reps with Renfrow and Ruggs it would be more noteworthy. Gruden wants his receivers to be able to line up all over the field and that can’t happen if they aren’t taking reps in training camp.

With that said, it sounds like Edwards is going to be a starting WR sooner than later. It’s only a matter of when it’s going to happen. The original timeline of Edwards taking the job in 2021 might be a worst-case scenario.

As for Jones and Agholor, the season hopefully won’t be riding on their shoulders. Agholor has received a lot of praise in camp (and he’s a fine human being), but he won’t be on the field a lot if he doesn’t find a way to fix the drops on Sundays. Jones is going to have an uphill battle to make the final roster. Given the Raiders are probably keeping four tight ends, it’ll be hard for Gruden to justify having 20 percent of the roster listed as wide receivers and tight ends.

5 – Will Jadeveon Clowney eventually sign with the Raiders?

As of now, it seems Clowney is willing to wait out the market and the market seems willing to wait out him. Jon Gruden was reportedly interested in signing him at one point and syndicated radio host (and Raiders team employee) JT The Brick is still calling for the team to sign him.

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Jadeveon Clowney is only 27 years old and can play both outside and inside on the defensive line. He’s been double teamed most of his life and can blow up any play at anytime in a game. His price is dropping. At this price there is no downside on a 2 year deal.

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While JT isn’t part of the Raiders personnel department, he has never been one to stray far outside the thinking of team ownership. Gruden apparently wants Clowney, so there are pieces seemingly in place to see the Raiders back at the negotiating table with Clowney.

Hopefully it happens. Other than a pile of cash, what does the team have to lose?

twitter: @raidersbeat