No Meyers? Raiders Young Guns Must Deliver

The Las Vegas Raiders will be without their top receiver for Sunday's road matchup with the Los Angeles Rams. It will be up to multiple young players to help this passing offense find its footing in an extremely important game.

Sep 29, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (16) attempts to make a catch against the Cleveland Browns during the third quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders (2-4) are not in a good spot heading into Week 7 of the season to face the Los Angeles Rams (1-4) on the road, missing several of their key offensive players, including a blockbuster trade and a lingering injury to sixth-year wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.

The Raiders have struggled to get Meyers on the practice field, who is in place to assume the role as the top receiving option after the organization dealt All-Pro receiver Davante Adams to the New York Jets earlier this week.

It does not look like Meyers will be able to contribute this week as he did not practice on Thursday and did not play in Week 6 against the Steelers with an ankle injury that he is still working back from. Coach Antonio Pierce announced that Meyers is doubtful for Week 7 against the Rams.

If Meyers is officially ruled out and the Raiders want to win this week, they must receive heightened production from an inexperienced young core to keep them afloat in a must-win game.

In the receiver room, the Raiders will rely mostly on second-year target Tre Tucker, along with third-year wideout DJ Turner.

As one of the youngest skill guys on offense, Tucker has been utilized fairly often this season, catching 18 balls for 190 yards and one score. His best game was a 96 receiving yard performance in Week 3 against Carolina.

He and second-yard quarterback Aidan O'Connell were in the same draft class and that relationship will definitely play a role in Sunday's passing game. It is likely that Turner will be the top receiver this week and should be given a majority of the targets if Meyers is unavailable.

“Well, last week was a big week for us, and we just didn’t get the touches to him [Tucker]; shame on us, but hopefully that’s not the case this week,” Pierce said regarding an expanded role for Tucker. “Obviously, with Brock [Bowers] being there and being a big focus of our offense, the ability that Tre gives you, we’ve seen it now in the preseason, certain times throughout the year, the big play ability, if it’s not special teams, it’s on reverses, shots on the field. We gotta find a way to get him the ball by all means necessary. And the thing about Tre, you can see the look in his eyes, just for the opportunity.”

Turner was nonexistent in the first several games as he received just two targets in the first four weeks. Since then, much has unfolded in the receiver room, giving him eight targets, three catches, for 49 yards. With Meyers also out, Turner's targets and production will rise even higher this week.

It will be business as usual for rookie tight end Brock Bowers who has been the best in his position group through six weeks. He will be tasked as the most frequent target for O'Connell who will trust Bowers to find open space and rack up several short yardage gains and a few chunk gains as well.

In his past two games, Bowers has recorded 17 catches for 168 yards and a touchdown and is quickly becoming a top candidate for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Expect a third game this season where the rookie will record 90-plus receiving yards.

it is essential that the Raiders find a way to put up points through the air and compete against a Rams defense that is allowing the fourth-most points in the league (27.8). The rush attack has not been the strong suit, so relying on the young wideouts is going to be the blueprint to victory this Sunday.

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