After Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, the Raiders are suddenly staring at a two-game losing streak, and the road doesn’t get any smoother over the next two weeks.
That’s the spot Klint Kubiak is trying to navigate as he looks for a spark. One path he could take is reshuffling the lineup, and there are already a few players who could see their roles shrink if the mistakes keep piling up.
The clearest candidate to move into a bigger role is second-year guard Caleb Rogers. If that happens, the most likely player to lose his spot is Spencer Burford.
Burford knows Kubiak’s system and has earned trust from the coaches, but the results have not been good enough. He has struggled in two of the last three games, and his one-year, $3.1 million deal does not exactly give him a long leash.
The Raiders also know Burford is not the future at left guard. John Spytek used a third-round pick on Rogers for a reason, and the team did not draft him to watch from the sideline.
At cornerback, the picture is just as unsettled. The Raiders have plenty of bodies there, but through five games nobody has clearly separated as the No. 1 option.
Hezekiah Masses made an early splash with three interceptions in the first three games and quickly became one of the team’s most talked-about players in September. But the rookie has also been exposed in coverage since then, and opponents have started going after him.
Masses has been credited with the turnovers, though the full story is more complicated. One interception came off an egregiously underthrown ball after pressure from Malcolm Koonce, and another came on a play where a Chargers tight end basically bobbled the ball straight into his hands.
The talent is obvious, but so is the learning curve. Masses is still working through the fine points of the position, and offenses have recognized his aggressiveness and youth. He has also been flagged for four penalties.
Eric Stokes has also left the door open for a change. Through at least 10 snaps, he has been the lowest-graded defensive player on the roster, according to Pro Football Focus.
Stokes has picked up a pair of questionable penalties, but the Raiders need far more from a veteran cornerback. The opening stretch of the season has simply not been kind to him.
And then there’s Ashton Jeanty, who is not in danger of being benched, but whose role could still be affected if the offense keeps waiting for him to take off.
Something has been off since Week 1. The injured foot and ankle may have played a part, and there have also been questions about Jeanty’s vision in recent weeks.
Jeanty said he is feeling the best he has felt all year, and the Raiders need that to show up on the field in Week 6 against the Bills.
The offensive line has not done him many favors, but when the runs are there, Jeanty has to turn them into more. If he doesn’t, it becomes harder to ignore Mike Washinton Jr.
Week 5 looked like the chance to get Washington more involved. Jeanty was a game-time decision against the Patriots, somehow went from barely being able to play to logging a heavy workload, and Washington ended up with just one carry.
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