Raiders UDFA is already forcing the hand of Klint Kubiak and John Spytek, and he’s only played one preseason game
The Las Vegas Raiders may have found a hidden gem in UDFA Cian Slone, as he’s been playing well in training camp and the preseason game.
The Las Vegas Raiders have put together a pretty good team for the 2026 season, all things considered. When you look at what this roster was a year ago, it’s already much better. Even the rookie class is a better class than last year’s. And to extend that statement, even the UDFA class is better. They’ve got some serious talent there.
There’s one UDFA that’s really standing out, though. Cian Slone, the former NC State edge rusher, is kind of forcing the hand of John Spytek and Klint Kubiak. Every single team in the NFL passed on Slone. And the reality is, he shouldn’t have been. In 38 career college games, Slone finished with 22 tackles for loss, 138 tackles, and 11 sacks. Maybe the rest of the NFL just forgot to draft him? Either way, he’s already done enough to be considered for a spot on the 53-man roster.
“Yeah, for sure. Cian [Slone] on defense has done some good stuff,” Kubiak told reporters.
In Thursday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, Slone played extremely well. Honestly, he outperformed Keyron Crawford, who was drafted in the third round. They faced different matchups for most of the game, but Crawford still played deep into it and much more than Slone did. Yet, Slone had a sack, and a pretty nice one at that.
His get-off was pretty good, and he diagnosed the run game fairly well despite only having a few tackles. Right now, if the Raiders want five edge rushers, Slone may be a lock. All he has to do is beat out Jahfari Harvey and Patrick Johnson, who also played well Thursday. Ahead of him right now are just Maxx Crosby, Kwity Paye, Malcolm Koonce, and Keyron Crawford.
He is forcing them to keep five edge rushers just so they don’t release him and risk him signing with someone else. Or, he is forcing them to make a very tough decision. He’s playing that well at training camp and preseason. But there’s still a lot of football left. And he’s not the only UDFAs playing well.
Klint Kubiak breaks down the other UDFAs that have done well
“We got the wide receiver position – we’ve got a few guys that have shown up between Chase [Roberts] and our young man from Indiana [E.J. Williams Jr.], they got some good snaps yesterday,” Kubiak continued.
“Overall, those are the kind of guys that come to mind. Someone I’m missing that you’re thinking of is on the tip of my tongue, but I think there’s potential for those guys at the bottom of the roster to show what they can do on special teams and try to help us. So, that’ll be a good thing to watch too in the last two games.”
The Raiders have done a solid job of finding talent everywhere. There’s already a major difference in this roster from last year, and it’s evident Spytek has his fingerprints all over it. It’s also evident Pete Carroll had a big say in what happened to the roster last season. A few UDFA players will make things very hard for the Raiders.
