For the second year in a row, Tyree Wilson will be thrown into the spotlight a little sooner than expected.
Last year, it was the loss of Chandler Jones that forced Wilson into the lineup as a rookie. This year, it’s Malcolm Koonce that will be out for at least a month.
It will be interesting to see who takes the majority of Koonce’s game reps, but it sounds like last year’s first-round pick will be at the front of the line to start the season.
“With Koonce out, the Raiders will likely insert Tyree Wilson into the starting lineup,” Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed reported at The Athletic. “The 2023 first-round pick had a rough rookie season and didn’t display much progress throughout training camp and the preseason. The plan was to continue to bring him along slowly off the bench this season, but now the Raiders need him to step up in a major way beginning with Sunday’s season opener.”
Wilson reportedly had a positive offseason, but didn’t make a strong impression in the 48 defensive snaps he played in the preseason. That’s concerning, but not ominous.
At some point, though, Wilson needs a breakout game.
As the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vinny Bonsignore pointed out last month, Maxx Crosby showed flashes of brilliance very early in his career, and that’s something the Raiders would love to see from Wilson.
“At this point in his rookie year, Maxx Crosby had already shown like ‘Oh… who’s the fourth-round pick from Eastern Michigan?” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate.
“By this time, we could [say], ‘Okay, alright. This is a player to keep an eye on.’ My problem and my trepidation about Tyree is that he’s not shown that. We’ll give him the mulligan last year and for good reason. [He’s] now in his second season, first full training camp, [we] just haven’t seen it. Whether it’s practice, whether it’s games. You don’t feel Tyree out there. He doesn’t make his presence felt.”
Looking ahead only a matter of hours… what better time for Wilson to make his presence felt than the regular season opener against a division rival on the road?
x: @raidersbeat
Speaking of that quote from Bonsignore… I heard yesterday that Tyree Wilson left the game early and I was surprised because I didn’t recall seeing him out there at all yesterday. It seemed Like Snowden got the majority of snaps…I’m rooting for Tyree, but it sure doesn’t look good. The team can say whatever they want, but when you’re behind a guy they’d waived and put on the practice squad in Week 1, a year after being a top 10 pick… the team doesn’t believe in you.