The Las Vegas Raiders announced their list of undrafted free agents, and it a couple of Mendoza's Hoosier teammates.
The Las Vegas Raiders are starting a long rebuild, and they know it will take more than just new quarterback Fernando Mendoza to help them become a winning team again. The Raiders announced the addition of multiple undrafted free agents, and this year’s UFAs including some noteworthy additions, according to a report from Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk.
Start with a couple of Mendoza’s former teammates at Indiana. The big names here were running back Roman Hemby and wide receiver E.J. Williams Jr., with Williams being the more significant signings. He had 36 catches for 438 yards and six touchdowns for the Hoosiers last year, so it’ll be interesting to see if he can catch on as a depth piece and a possible special-teams player.
The list also included another quarterback, Jacob Clark of Missouri State. Clark’s stats included going was 247-of-376 for 3,244 yards, 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions last year, but he’ll come in facing long odds to be anything other than a possible camp arm.
The rest of the signings included Penn State long snapper Tyler Duzansky, BYU tackle Isaiah Jatta, Troy safety Devin Lafayette, Boise State tight end Matt Lauter, Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa, Kennesaw State cornerback Caleb Offord, Duke guard Justin Pickett, BYU wide receiver Chase Roberts, Arkansas State wide receiver Corey Rucker, N.C. State defensive end Cian Slone, UCLA defensive tackle Gary Smith III, Arkansas linebacker Xavian Sorey Jr., Maine linebacker Chris Thomas, and BYU safety Tanner Wall.
None of these signings are especially important unless you’re a college fan of one of the teams listed here, but UFAs will play a more significant role than usual this year. Former coach Pete Carroll thought the Raiders roster was ready to win right away, so last year’s UFAs faced an even steeper uphill climb than usual to make the cut.
This season should be different. Teams in this kind of rebuild are often looking for diamonds in the rough among their UFAs, and this one is expected to be an extensive project. The Raiders depth chart is noticeably thin at multiple key positions, so there will be plenty of opportunities for players from this list to step up and contribute.
Some teams seem to specialize in adding at least one UFA to their roster on an annual basis, so it will be interesting to see where new coach Klint Kubiak and his staff land in this particular area. Mendoza is expected to start the year as an understudy to veteran QB Kirk Cousins as the rebuild begins.