Raiders’ Joe DeCamillis opened up on one of the most important position battles this offseason that the national media won’t talk to you about
The Las Vegas Raiders have position battles all across the roster, including on special teams.
The Las Vegas Raiders have position battles going on all across the roster, including on special teams. Of course, the main one grabbing all the attention is the quarterback room, with Kirk Cousins, Fernando Mendoza, and Aidan O’Connell.
Then, of course, there is the battle going on all over the secondary for the safety and cornerback positions. But one of the more fun battles we are all waiting to see is in the special teams room. The fan base has talked about it nonstop, but it’s not a battle you will hear about on SportCenter or anywhere like that. There are two kickers in Las Vegas, and only one spot is up for grabs.
Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis talks about the kicker battle
“I think a lot of it is you want to try to put them in some pressure situations, you want to try to get as many as you can, because obviously, end of the game [and] end of half kicks are more important than normal ball, so they have to be able to do both,” DeCamillis told reporters on Wednesday.
The offseason started with a bit of weirdness at the position. The new regime elected not to bring back Daniel Carlson, one of the best Raiders kickers ever. Why? Well, not sure, but Carlson did have a bit of a down year last season. And then general manager John Spytek decided to bring in kicker Matt Gay, whom he drafted for Tampa Bay in the fifth round.
When that move happened, many just assumed Gay was the guy. Then, they brought in Hawaii UDFA Kansei Matsuzawa, or Tokyo Toe, as most fans have called him. he’s got a real shot to win this battle, as his accuracy is going to play a big part.
But, this is just the start of the battle, as it’s going to go into August.