Second and Third-Year Players Panning Out for Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders infused their roster with young talent over the last few seasons. Many of their top contributors have under three years of experience.

The Las Vegas Raiders spent the last few seasons adding young, talented players to their roster on both sides of the ball.

The way the season has gone for the Raiders forced them to depend on many of those younger players more often and sooner. For various reasons, many younger players on Las Vegas's roster have been needed to keep their season afloat, and they have delivered. 

Interim Coach Antonio Pierce has been impressed by what he's seen.

"I'll start with No. 51 [Malcom Koonce], start with [Thayer] Munford, go with Zeus [Zamir White], Big Mike [Michael Mayer] at tight end," Pierce said. "Obviously, Jack Jones, that helped us. To be honest, a lot of guys. If you really look at it, really, the last three weeks, you've seen the youth of our team, from second-year players to rookies, really step up when their name is called.

"Let's go through the roster. Left tackle [Thayer Munford], second-year player, left guard [Dylan Parham], second-year player, quarterback [Aidan O'Connell], rookie, running back [Zamir White], second-year player.

"It's just impressive. Jack Jones, second-year player. And then all those third-year players who really haven't contributed a lot, like Malcolm Koonce really coming along and just being dominant now in back-to-back weeks. Wow, right? Wow.

"And when you have a guy like Maxx Crosby on defense, you're just waiting for somebody. We've been waiting for who's going to be that guy to step up and like: 'Man, look, this guy is going to get double-, triple-teamed. You have the one-on-ones, buddy. You have to win them.’ And he [Koonce] has done that, and he's done an outstanding job. So, I can go on and on with that list, but I think those are some of the key players here who stood out."

Las Vegas has found a way to get the most out of a defense that possesses few household names. If they continue to play the way they have been, they'll be household names soon enough. 

The Silver and Black continue the season on New Year's Eve versus the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Don't miss it on Sunday, December 31, at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST.

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