For virtually every team in the league, the first week of the preseason is treated with care. This is especially true for teams with legitimate playoff (and for the Arizona Cardinals, Super Bowl) aspirations heading into 2016. While attrition tends to be an unavoidable reality throughout the regular season, losing key players to injury in meaningless preseason action isn’t ever part of the plan.
Despite the cautionary nature of the preseason, Friday night’s week one preseason matchup between the Oakland Raiders and the Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium will be the first time fans see either team’s rookies and insight on position battles in live game action.
Resolution at Right Tackle
The Raiders are enjoying unfamiliar national preseason hype. While the nucleus of the hype won’t be on the field for more than two series, the Raiders do have a looming question mark at right tackle. Currently, former second-round pick Menelik Watson is slated as the starter, while last season’s incumbent Austin Howard nips at his heels while recovering from a late season injury. Both players are overcoming injuries cutting their 2015 season’s short (in Watson’s case, his preseason knee injury kept him out all year) and both won’t have a shot to start at guard if they lose the competition considering the addition of Kelechi Osemele. While both Watson and Howard are starter quality, they may be used interchangeably throughout Friday night.
Replacing Powers
An underrated aspect of last year’s vaunted Cardinals secondary was the play opposite the team’s All-Pro corner Patrick Peterson. Jerraud Powers’ play as the other boundary corner was well above league average, but it was the team’s confidence in then backup/nickel corner Justin Bethel which prompted the team not to re-sign the 29-year-old veteran. Fast-forward to training camp, and Bethel has been supplanted by a relatively little-known rookie cornerback, Brandon Williams. Bethel’s relegation to the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) has prompted his succession, but not as much as the encouraging play of Williams, who played running back as much as he did corner at Texas A&M.
The 6’0" corner is very much an athletic prototype for the position. During the 2016 NFL Combine, Williams ran a sub-four second forty yard dash and sub seven second three cone drill, both are sound barometers measuring a defensive back’s athletic ability. While the coaching staff has apparently liked what he has done against one of the league’s best receiving trio, Friday will be a truer test in how he competes against different colored jerseys.
Rookie Reels
Both the Raiders and Cardinals will leverage Friday’s preseason action to get a distinct look at their rookie class. For the Raiders, their test their two rookie defensive starters, Karl Joseph and Jihad Ward, against one of the league’s preeminent offenses (albeit for a short period and in a much less potent form). Apart from this April’s top choices, the Raiders may test players further down on the depth chart. Rookie defensive ends/linebackers Shilique Calhoun and James Cowser (Cowser being undrafted from division 1-AA Southern Utah) have elbowed their way behind Pro Bowl caliber starters on the edge in Bruce Irvin and Khalil Mack.
For the fantasy savvy, backup running back DeAndre Washington will get his fair share of carriers and perhaps show his merit in the passing game - an area where he’s expected to contribute early on. Apart from Washington, buzzy undrafted rookies Jalen Richard (running back) and Johnny Holton (receiver) are players to watch on the Raiders offense.
Apart from the aforementioned Brandon Williams, rookies aren’t a big part of the Cardinals starting makeup, at this point. That may quickly change as first round pick Robert Nkemdiche gets his mitts on third and fourth teamers on Friday. Currently, Nkemdiche is buried at the back of the defensive tackle lineup but should begin to build momentum through game action. Overall, Bruce Arians and staff will look to squeeze more out of their rookie class, which he's described as "loafing" in practices.
Although not technically a rookie, second year first round right tackle, D.J. Humphries, cracks the starting lineup after barely dressing in 2015. Despite being a first-time starter, Humphries may get his fair share of play time before the end of the night.