It’s only the second week of June, but Raiders’ OTAs are going strong and there are interesting position battles already taking shape.
While many are following the quarterback situation in Las Vegas, the Raiders’ offensive line and wide receiver groups need to improve over a year ago, and according to the California Post’s Vinny Bonsignore, there are two second-year players at those positions he would like to see stand out a little more.
“I need to see more from Jack Bech,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate.
“I know that he’s out there. I know he’s out there doing his thing, but the plays aren’t there. The touches aren’t there.
And you could say, ‘Well, maybe they’re running plays away from him.’ You got to get open. You got to be available. You got to be somebody that makes himself a nice target. So I need to see more from Jack Bech. I need to see more from Charles Grant. I thought his feet looked a little heavy yesterday. It’s something that I believe he needs to work on.”
Grant will compete with D.J. Glaze to start at right tackle this year, and there is a chance rookie Trey Zuhn III could enter into the mix, as well.
In theory, Grant should be a good fit for Klint Kubiak’s scheme, but the jump from William & Mary to the NFL is one that could take a little while longer – especially since the coaching staff didn’t do the rookie offensive lineman any favors a year ago.
As for Bech, the former TCU wide receiver reportedly put on muscle in the offseason and will have every opportunity to make his mark with the new coaching staff in the building.
“Jack Bech… looks like he’s put on some size for sure,” Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast last week.
“Looks like he’s a little bit bigger, made some nice catches, and he’s a guy that I’m expecting to be a drive extender. A guy that’ll pick up a bunch of first downs. Third and eight could be Jack Bech time. It looked like that was kind of the role that he was playing.”
So far, it sounds like third and eight hasn’t been Jack Bech time, but with his size and physicality, it’s possible that his best efforts aren’t going to come until the pads are on.
x: @raidersbeat