Underestimating Raiders' Jalen Nailor's Importance Would Be a Mistake

The Las Vegas Raiders have made more notable moves this offseason, but few of those moves are as risky, on paper, as their signing of veteran wide receiver Jalen Nailor. There is reason to believe he will blossom into the receiver they believe he can be, but his addition and the results are worth watching.

Raiders' Risk

Nailor has registered just short of 1,100 combined receiving yards in four seasons in the National Football League. Nailor played each of those seasons with arguably the best wide receiver in the league, Justin Jefferson, and other, more established veterans. Still, the Raiders paid him well.

Las Vegas handed Nailor a three-year, $35 million contract with $23 million fully guaranteed. That contract is undoubtedly a risk, but a potential reward is always on the other side of risk. In Nailor, the Raiders have a wide receiver that could grow into their top option in Klint Kubiak's offense.

The Raiders' front office and coaching staff have both acknowledged their respective desires to field a team with no true top threat. Still, although Nailor has room to grow under Kubiak's staff, he is starting off with a chance to solidify himself as a true No. 1 receiver in the league.

He now joins an offense that does not have any wide receivers at Jefferson's level. That gives him an opportunity to shine in a way he has not had before. He will be the most experienced wide receiver the Raiders have on the roster. Quarterback Kirk Cousins recently shared his thoughts on Nailor.

“I'm really excited about Jalen [Nailor], because I was with him in Minnesota, and I could see his ability. When you have Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, it's hard to get the ball as a receiver, because you're going to target Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen, and yet, every t ime Jalen got opportunities, he showed what he could do. And I think that showed even more there once I left Minnesota,” Cousins said.

“But I think to have him here and now in a bigger role, I think that's really exciting, because it allows the player to really fulfill his potential. And so, I think he knows that, I know that, and I'm excited to get on the grass with him, and routes on air and in team drills, and just start to build that rapport and really allow him to have a much bigger role moving forward, because I think he's capable of carrying a bigger role."

On a simplistic level, the Raiders have needed a young, but veteran option at wide receiver that could help open up the offense. Nailor is that. He is a solid route runner, with dependable hands and an unknown amount of untapped potential.

Considering how subpar the Raiders' wide receivers have been as a whole over the past few seasons, Nailor should be able to firmly establish himself as the group's leader. Whether he does or not remains to be seen, but based on the contract they gave him, the Raiders certainly are banking on it.