The Las Vegas Raiders wrapped up their 2024 preseason schedule on Friday night with a 24-24 tie with the San Francisco 49ers. Now, the team will turn its attention to final cuts in the next few days before beginning its preparation for Week 1 of the regular season.
The deadline for the Raiders to cut their roster down to the initial 53 is on Tuesday, Aug. 27, although we'll likely see some moves in the days leading up to that deadline, and quite possibly as soon as Saturday.
Some players no doubt helped their cause against the Niners, while others simply didn't do enough to solidify their spot. We'll point out the biggest standouts in our takeaways from Las Vegas' preseason finale.
Raiders' biggest takeaways
Keep Carter Bradley around
Whether the Raiders keep a third quarterback on the 53-man roster or the practice squad, please let it be Carter Bradley and not Nathan Peterman. Granted, the rookie had a few issues, but he's shown enough the last two weeks to earn a longer look. We already know what Peterman is.
Stars of the night
Wide receiver Tyreik McAllister was no doubt one of the stars of the night. After returning a punt 81 yards to the house, McAllister caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from rookie Carter Bradley that saw the wideout make a great adjustment and a beautiful catch before finding pay dirt.
McAllister added a 21-yard catch later on and may have just earned himself a spot on the roster. If nothing else, the former standout CFL returner should get a spot on the practice squad.
On defense, defensive end Charles Snowden stood out the most. He was everywhere in the first half in particular and finished the night with three tackles (one for loss), one sack, three QB hits and one pass defensed. He's got a shot at the 53-man roster.
Kristian Wilkerson cements his spot
Wilkerson was already in good position to secure a roster spot going into the preseason finale after playing well in preseason Week 2, and he likely cemented himself on Friday night.
Wilkerson, who is also helped by the fact that he has more experience than most of the team's depth options, caught three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown, all of which came on the final drive of the first half.
Other roster bubble standouts
RT DJ Glaze: The rookie isn't going to supplant Thayer Munford Jr. for the starting right tackle job, but he more than held his own as the starter on Friday night while facing the Niners' starting defense. He didn't give up any pressures and opened up a nice hole for rookie running back Dylan Laube in the run game.
LB Amari Gainer: 13 tackles, 2 TFL
DE Janarius Robinson: TFL, multiple pressures
S Chris Smith II: 5 tackles, PD, INT
DL Matthew Butler: 3 tackles, 2 TFL, sack
WR Ramel Keyton: 4 REC, 76 YDS, tackle