The Las Vegas Raiders may have found a young receiver who can grow right alongside Fernando Mendoza.
Malik Benson is pushing to become more than just another rookie in the mix. On the field, he’s trying to become the kind of target Mendoza can trust, the kind of player who helps unlock that back-shoulder throw analysts have already pointed to as a path toward elite play.
Cornerback Eric Stokes has noticed Benson’s progress up close.
“You can just see he's being important to the team. Even from the start of training camp with him, just him being a vertical threat. But now he's able to do intermediate routes,” Stokes shared via Raiders insider Ryan McFadden Sunday.
Stokes also pointed to the way Benson is handling the offense mentally.
“He's able to break it down,” Stokes said.
And Stokes didn’t stop there. He offered a line that should grab the attention of Oregon fans following Benson’s first steps with the Raiders.
“He's gonna be one of the guys we're gonna lean on in the future,” Stokes said.
That kind of praise matters even more after Mendoza’s uneven Week 2 NFL preseason outing against the Houston Texans. The top overall pick threw a costly pick six that put Las Vegas in a deep hole, even though the Raiders still came away with a 22-20 win.
The result was nice enough. The conversation afterward was about the mistake.
It also comes at a time when the Raiders’ receiver room is under the microscope. A lot of observers see a group that doesn’t have much star power, which leaves the team with a clear question mark at wideout.
Benson, though, is starting to chip away at that concern with his work and the way he’s showing up on the field.
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