The Las Vegas Raiders saw their new General Manager, Tom Telesco, and Coach Antonio Pierce announce their first initial 53-man roster of the season yesterday.
The Silver and Black now want Raider Nation to turn their attention to the upcoming 2024 NFL season.
S Chris Smith spoke after practice after the roster was released, and we have everything that he said for you.
You can watch all of his press conference below:
The Las Vegas Raiders GM Tom Telesco spoke yesterday after releasing his roster, and below is a transcript of everything that he said.
Q: Coach Pierce mentioned the other day that special teams were going to be a big-time priority when it came down to the 53-man roster. With the number of linebackers and with the number of wide receivers and young wide receivers that made the roster, it seems like special teams and maybe even the new kickoff rule played a major role?
Telesco: “Well, it could. I mean, just roster wise thisis kind of the starting point of where we are. But yeah, I mean, a little bit heavy at linebacker right now. But I think just across the roster, whether it was the new kickoff rule or not, as you get towards the back end between 45 and 53 there has to be a pretty big special teams rule there for those players. So, you have to take that into account as you put this together for the initial list. But honestly, with the kickoff rule and the players that are going to be used in that fashion, we still have to see how it plays out now in the regular season when it's for real and see what teams are doing and see how it goes. But yeah, this is just how it played out right now."
Q: Specifically, as it relates to wide receiver Ramel Keyton and Tyreik McAllister, they made cases for themselves in Costa Mesa and then certainly finished strong on Friday night against the 49ers. Can you talk a little bit about their growth throughout training camp and then the case that they made for 53- man roster spots?
Telesco: "Yeah, I think both of them kind of showed slow and steady improvement. I mean, that's kind of what it is when you're coming into the league as a young player. But you saw from the beginning of OTAs until that last preseason game that there's some skill there to work with. And the goal is not to have, I mean, obviously you want to have the strongest 53-man roster possible, but to us, the practice squad is just as important. We want to have the strongest 69-man roster as we can as we put this all together. But some of the things those guys showed, certainly what [Tyreik] McAllister showed on special teams, which is going to have to be a role for these guys at the back end. And it was nice in that last preseason game, certainly for those two guys and some others to play a lot of snaps. I like how Antonio [Pierce] set that up in the third preseason game, where a lot of young players played a lot. I mean, these guys haven't played a full game, a lot of our younger players, since their last game in college. And the way the preseason is, especially when you’re going to play the starters early on, there just aren't a lot of snaps. So, to get guys get a chance to get a lot of work, get in a rhythm of series after series, and to see those two guys perform in that third preseason game was certainly important."
Q: What did you see in the two young linebackers, Amari Gainer and Amari Burney?
Telesco: "Well, [Amari] Burney was here last year so he's got a little bit bigger body of work, but very athletic and can move and hassome special teams value. And then Amari Gainer had a really good training camp. He's gotsize and speed, and he shows up. I mean, he really doesshow up in the passing game really well. And again, those guys are going to have to have some special teams value, which I think they both have, but they're both young guys with some upside there."
Q: You mentioned being a little heavy at linebacker. How much are you scouring the other waiver wires for additions or even maybe looking at potential trades?
Telesco: "Yeah, that's what everybody up here is doing now. We're probably doing the same thing you guys are doing, where we're just kind of gathering names off social media to see who's been released because not everybody's put their cuts out yet and they won't be official until around four or five o'clock. So, yeah, we've done a lot of work leading up to this as far as having reports on everybody and seeing who's out there who maybe can strengthen us. And that's what we'll look at tonight, tomorrow and into Wednesday and Thursday and see how that plays out."
Q: It was announced yesterday. I don't know if you guys already knew about it, but the rule that was approved earlier this year about being able to elevate a quarterback from the practice squad got vetoed. Did that factor at all into your decision with the 53-man or do you think it probably would have played out the same?
Telesco: "No. And that happened back in March, so that was nothing new that came out yesterday. But no, that didn't play into the decision at all."
Q: I was just wondering about the thought process on Brandon Facyson? I know you guys haven't seen a lot of him. What kept him around and do you expect him to be ready for the season?
Telesco: "Yeah, I mean, Brandon [Facyson] has shown he's been a starting level corner in this league. So, he's just had a tough run of luck the last couple weeks. But when healthy, he's been a really good player, so we’ll kind of see how it plays out from there."
Q: When it comes to Tyreik McAllister coming in and translating his game from the CFL, how surprising was that? I talked to him after the game and he talked about how much more compact an NFL field is than a CFL field, obviously. But did you see that translate at all into the way that he's able to see the game and see the field?
Telesco: "As a returner, you have to have some athletic ability, quickness and speed. But you also have to have some feel and instincts to it, and I think he has that. You either have that or you don't. But his big transition has really been as a full-time receiver, just hadn't done it a lot. And you guys were out there during OTAs, if you saw him in April and May, and you see him now, you see how fast he's come and getting more comfortable playing that position, with running routes, having a feel for it, setting up his break. So, it's been really neat to see. It's really cool to see young players really invest in what they're doing and use all the resources they have to try and make a football team. And he's really gone above and beyond to try and do that. And we'll see other how the year plays out for him. But he's come a long way. Hats off to Champ Kelly and his staff here that signed him before I got here. They saw something in him in the CFL. He was signed as a future before I arrived, and what those guys saw is what you're seeing on the field right now."
Q: You guys brought in a lot of really young, talented players who are emerging. When you look at each position group, what do you think is going to be the group that veteran leadership is really going to have to take over the most and really elevate a lot of those younger guys around them?
Telesco: "It doesn't necessarily have to be a specific position group, but I think all the young players need to kind of latch on and follow some of the veterans and be mentors. And a lot of it's just listening and watching and seeing how professional football players handle themselves. This is just completely different than college. These young guys, they don't have to worry about going to class anymore, this is what they do for a living and it's a business now. So, there's a lot of resources that these players have and there's a lot of things that we've talked to them about that they don't even know that they have. We have to make sure they know the resources they have, both on and off the field, to be a great player in this league. And emphasizing some of those resources are off the field because there's a lot of things that come at you as a professional player and kind of distract you away from what you need to do to get on the field. So, really with most of our younger players, it's really using our player engagement staff as much as possible with Montelle Sanders and that group and then trying to follow some veterans and just see how this thing works."
Q: Is there anything just overall thoughts on the 53, whether it be the strengths or when you look at this roster, your initial thoughts on what kind of team this can be compared to other ones you've had? Is there anything on the 53 that you can tell us overall what you think?
Telesco: “That's a tough question. Yeah, it's just a hard question to answer. Until we start playing regular season games and until we get to maybe week three or four, when we have a really good feel for where we are on both sides of ball and special teams, I may have a better answer for you then. But right now, every year is different and new and unique. This year's Raiders team is completely different than last year's team, and that's just natural in this league, there's a high turnover rate. So, we have a lot of new players right now, whether they're a younger player or a veteran player. And this team, this 2024 team now has to come together as one. We've done that at training camp. I thought we got some great work being away at training camp in Costa Mesa. Now we're back here in Las Vegas, got to continue it on. But we've got a mix of some veterans. We've got a mix of some younger veterans. We've got a mix of some younger players. So, we're going to try and mix it all together and see how it works out."
Q: Obviously, you kept two quarterbacks on the roster. Are you content with going into the season with two quarterbacks? Are you thinking you might want to bring somebody else in maybe on the waiver wire or otherwise?
Telesco: "I mean, things could always change, but right now we're looking at probably two on the active roster and one on the practice squad."
Q: You have nine rookies on the 53, a 10th when you look at one on IR. I'm just curious about the youth of this team and how happy are you as a GM to be able to see a youth movement with such a mix of veterans?
Telesco: "Well, that's part of the evolution of NFL rosters is you kind of have to have that young group kind of keep coming along and developing, fully knowing that a lot of these guys aren't going to have big roles this year, but they may have a small role. And who knows, as we get later into the year, when we get past Halloween and get towards Thanksgiving where they're not really rookies anymore and they may take on a bigger role. But it's really important, especially in a salary cap world, to have a good base of young players coming up through your system. This is just a starting point for this year's group of - whatever it is you said, nine or 10. It's just a starting point of where they are, not close to where the end point is, but this is where we are right now."
Q: I think I counted three players who could play guard and center and two tackles who could also play guard. In today's NFL, how important is it to have that kind of versatility along your offensive line?
Telesco: “It'sreally, really important to have that. Because offensive linemen six,seven and eight on game day, they really need to be able to play more than one spot. And then as we progress through the year, obviously, injuries are going to happen, things are going to come up, so the more versatility, the better. So, if you're not one of the starting five, boy, you really have to have some versatility, whether you're a guard-center or guard-tackle. So, I think we have some of that there. We’ll add to the practice squad tomorrow with some players that I think have some of that same versatility. And, man, keep as many offensive linemen as you can. That's always the goal.”
Q: As for the team in 2024, you said it’s different than last year's team. You and Coach Pierce shared a vision of what you want this team to look like and be like. And I know it's only on paper and it's the initial 53-man, but do you feel like it's pretty close to the vision that you guys share?
Telesco: “Well, yeah, I mean we have some players here that have that vision we share, but we haven't played a game yet, so we got to see how things play out. But yeah, the shared vision of how we want to play on both sides of the ball, and really, that vision is really the vision of your head coach. That's what you're building the team around, is his vision of how he wants to play offense and defense. You know, you can't do that overnight. It takes time. But there were already a lot of players here when I arrived that fit his vision, and we're going to continue to add to that this year and throughout the year. Because we talked about the roster being this is the starting point, this is the initial 53. We all know it's going to change throughout the year. You know, it could change in the next week, even before you play the opening game. But we'll see how that vision plays out. Having a vision is great. We need to see it executed on the field. So, that's the goal for week one.”
Q: We often ask GMs about those difficult conversations and how tough that part of their job is to tell guysthat they're being released. But conversely, when you do have a bunch of rookies, especially some underdogs, some long shot stories, things like that. How much joy do you get out of being able to have those talks of, ‘Hey, man, you did enough. You made it. Keep going here, but you know you're on the team right now?’
Telesco: “So, that's interesting because we talked to all the players that we're going to release, and like you said, those aren't easy to do. Like, we do them all the time, but you can't be callous to it. I mean, every player that we released was the best player on his high school team, more than likely was the best, or one of the best players, on his college team. And then they come to the NFL, and it's the first time they've been told that we don't have a spot for you. So, those aren't easy to do. Luckily, for 98 percent of these players, they will have another opportunity somewhere else or back with us. But the players who quote, unquote make the team, we don't bring them in and sit them down and say, ‘Hey, you’ve made the team.’ Basically, they don't get a phone call, and they come in to work the next day like they're coming to work on the football team. So, everybody's here today. I've often thought about that, do you bring in some guys who maybe were on the bubble and you tell them? But honestly, in my career, we really haven't done that. We expect every player in their mind to expect to be here. And if nobody comes to get you, to tell you that we're going to move on, then you're on this football team until we tell you otherwise. But yeah, I think for a lot of the guys, for the younger players that are fighting for a spot, I think they probably feel good today. But the nature of this business, you know, it's a day-to-day league for all of us. So, just never know how long it's going to last. You can't really sit back, put your feet up and celebrate that. You got to get ready for the next practice. In professional football, everybody's looking to take somebody's job at some point. So, right now, everybody's goal is now the opening game. It's no longer about training camp and preseason games, but it's getting ready for the Chargers. Yeah, it's an interesting process, but those guys they really can't celebrate it for too long.”
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