Raiders' Youth Movement Already Paying Dividends

The Las Vegas Raiders in the midst of playing numerous young players on their roster. A young nucleus has begun making the most of their extra playing time.

Dec 22, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce celebrates after the Raiders made a play against the Jacksonville Jaguars during the third quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders' most pressing issue this season led to arguably their second most pressing issue. Injuries have wiped out many of the Raiders' best players this season and forced the Raiders to play many young players on the field simultaneously.

On one hand, showcasing as many young players as possible is a good thing and allows the young players a chance to go into the locker room. On the other hand, featuring as many players with few years of experience has led to plenty of youthful mistakes on the field.

Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce noted the team's many young players and how he believes the extended playing time will help those players in the long run. The season may not have gone the way everyone had hoped, but the playing time the young players see is making a difference.

"I'll tell you what, watching our punt return team go out there, and it's all rookies and Ameer Abdullah. I'm like, 'God'. Like, legit, all rookies. Okay, you look at our punt team, and it's some rookies, second-year players, and I think it was obviously AJ [Cole] and Isaiah [Pola-Mao] and [Divine] Deablo only. You've got Ramel [Keyton] on one side as a gunner and 34 [Thomas Harper], so these guys are getting a lot of reps, man. And more importantly, they've been competitive in every game. I know you talk about the record, and there's been a lot of losses, but in all those games, those guys have competed their asses off. 

“They've been very competitive. They're learning. There's been mistakes. There hasn’t been guys that have multiple mistakes week in and week out. For example, last week on special teams, those mistakes were wiped away. We're not talking about that. So, those are a lot of positives that have gone into playing these younger players. And then, as that role goes on, just like I talked about with Isaiah [Pola-Mao] on special teams, then you find your role on defense. And that's like Thomas Harper, for example, right? Special teams, and then you look out there, and he's playing a lot on defense for us as well."

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