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“No beach balls, no basketballs, no high fives, no dancing. No one wants to see you dance anymore. We don’t want to see you dance. None of the dancing. Line up and be ready…”
Love this no nonsense kind of coaching. None of this "me" crap...instead, it's all about "we". And that's exactly the kind of "culture" we need.
raidersince63 wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2026 2:28 pm
Good to hear, and great to see...making a very good impression.
I'm down on Thornton as a potentially good or even average player but Im also often wrong. I'm pulling for him to at least be a decent role player. He seems like a bright kid, and looks like he's giving all he can to be as good as he can. I even saw he did a Raiders mock draft before the real draft which shows hes interested at least. Plus hes really big and fast.
Im optimistic Malik will be at least a good role player. He also played at a tougher college and was used more (than Thornton). I hope im not wrong here as I often am.
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 7:31 am
by raidersince63
powski wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2026 3:50 am
I'm down on Thornton as a potentially good or even average player but Im also often wrong. I'm pulling for him to at least be a decent role player. He seems like a bright kid, and looks like he's giving all he can to be as good as he can. I even saw he did a Raiders mock draft before the real draft which shows hes interested at least. Plus hes really big and fast.
Im optimistic Malik will be at least a good role player. He also played at a tougher college and was used more (than Thornton). I hope im not wrong here as I often am.
Yeah, for me, it's kinda hard to pull against Thornton but at this point we don't know if he will end up on the roster or not. Regardless, kudos to him and Maxx and JPJ. I admire athletes in all sports who report to camp earlier than they are required to be. It sends a good message to the other players as well as management and shows leadership and the mantra of "we".
And this is the kind of mentality that this franchise has sorely needed for a while.
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 8:57 am
by KillerRaider30
In 2025, Sam Darnold had 323 completions on 477 targets (67.7%) during the regular season:
1. WR JSN: 119 comps on 163 targets
(Bowers)
2. TE AJ Barner: 52 comps on 68 targets (Nailor)
3. WR Kupp: 47 comps on 70 targets
(Tucker)
4. RB Walker III: 31 comps on 36 targets
5. RB Zach Charbonnet: 20 comps on 24 targets
(Jeanty)
6. WR Shaheed: 15 comps on 26 targets
7. TE Elijah Arroyo: 15 comps on 26 targets
8. WR Horton: 13 comps on 22 targets
With 11 completions on 21 targets to various other players.
Honestly there's only scraps left for Thornton/Bech/Benson/Mayer unless one of them stands out with Mayer being the player most likely to get a bulk of the remaining targets.
There's only so many targets to go around.
------
Raiders projected receiving options:
WR Jalen Nailor
WR Tre Tucker
WR Jack Bech
WR Malik Benson
WR Dont'e Thornton Jr.
WR Dareke Young?
TE Brock Bowers
TE Michael Mayer
TE Ian Thomas
RB Ashton Jeanty
RB Mike Washington Jr.
RB Dylan Laube
FB/TE Connor Heyward
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 10:46 am
by raidersince63
KillerRaider30 wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2026 8:57 am
In 2025, Sam Darnold had 323 completions on 477 targets (67.7%) during the regular season:
1. WR JSN: 119 comps on 163 targets
(Bowers)
2. TE AJ Barner: 52 comps on 68 targets (Nailor)
3. WR Kupp: 47 comps on 70 targets
(Tucker)
4. RB Walker III: 31 comps on 36 targets
5. RB Zach Charbonnet: 20 comps on 24 targets
(Jeanty)
6. WR Shaheed: 15 comps on 26 targets
7. TE Elijah Arroyo: 15 comps on 26 targets
8. WR Horton: 13 comps on 22 targets
With 11 completions on 21 targets to various other players.
Honestly there's only scraps left for Thornton/Bech/Benson/Mayer unless one of them stands out with Mayer being the player most likely to get a bulk of the remaining targets.
There's only so many targets to go around.
------
Raiders projected receiving options:
WR Jalen Nailor
WR Tre Tucker
WR Jack Bech
WR Malik Benson
WR Dont'e Thornton Jr.
WR Dareke Young?
TE Brock Bowers
TE Michael Mayer
TE Ian Thomas
RB Ashton Jeanty
RB Mike Washington Jr.
RB Dylan Laube
FB/TE Connor Heyward
Yup, when discussing Mayer yesterday I noted that in his 3 years he's only averaged 40 targets per year.
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 12:59 pm
by rich72
raidersince63 wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2026 10:46 am
Yup, when discussing Mayer yesterday I noted that in his 3 years he's only averaged 40 targets per year.
Mayer has been a huge disappointment so far, he was supposed to be a great player, and a "Steal" when we drafted him.
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 1:31 pm
by raidersince63
rich72 wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2026 12:59 pm
Mayer has been a huge disappointment so far, he was supposed to be a great player, and a "Steal" when we drafted him.
Opinions vary.
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 2:04 pm
by DanKD
Mayer is an excellent #2 TE but he has not lived up to his supposed potential as a top 10 starting TE.
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 2:59 pm
by rich72
DanKD wrote: Sun Jul 26, 2026 2:04 pm
Mayer is an excellent #2 TE but he has not lived up to his supposed potential as a top 10 starting TE.
Plus his mental breakdown a couple years ago, that cost us a year of him playing.
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 3:10 pm
by raiderboyron
Combination of the mental stuff and drafting Brock the very next year on top of piss poor offensive crap put forth by this team and Wa La! Mayer looks like he doesn't live up. I'll take a pass and see what happens with him this season.
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 4:30 pm
by raidersince63
The Raiders will be running a 2 TE set on a significant portion of their offensive plays this year.
Bowers is TE #1, period...Mayer is TE #2,...so might as well get used to seeing both of them quite a bit in 2026.
Re: Training Camp 2026
Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2026 7:40 pm
by raiders72
Gronk and Hernandez
Patriots O was unstoppable in 2 TE sets for a few years