The Raiders don’t exactly get a trial by fire to open the 2026 season. They’ll be at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday against a Dolphins team that’s rebuilding under a new general manager and head coach, with a roster that was gutted in the offseason. That doesn’t make Miami harmless, and Klint Kubiak will make sure the Raiders treat it that way.
It also makes Week 1 a pressure point for a few players who can’t afford to coast through the opener. For some Raiders, this is less about easing into the year and more about showing something immediately.
Darien Porter is one of them. He won the starting job opposite Eric Stokes after holding off fifth-round rookie Zeke Masses in camp, helped by the fact that he already had a year of NFL experience.
But that competition isn’t over just because the depth chart says so. Miami may not have Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle anymore, but the Dolphins do have three rookie receivers in Chris Bell, Caleb Douglas, and Kevin Coleman Jr. to keep Porter busy.
He has the tools, but at some point the upside has to turn into production. If he has a shaky opener, the margin for error gets even smaller.
Matt Gay is in a different kind of spot. Raiders fans spent camp and the preseason hoping Kansei "The Tokyo Toe" Matsuzawa would make the kicking job a real battle, but that never materialized.
Gay went 5-of-6 on field goals in the preseason, with the lone miss coming from 54 yards, yet he still enters the season as a journeyman who kicked for two teams and made less than 75 percent of his field goals last season. Matsuzawa is back on the practice squad, which means the fallback option is sitting right there if Gay stumbles.
He needs to put that conversation to bed fast.
Jackson Powers-Johnson also has something to prove, even with the starting right guard job basically his to lose. The Raiders expected him to open the year there, and unlike last season, he won’t be shuffled around by the coaching staff.
Kubiak has also pointed to Caleb Rogers as another starting-caliber option at the spot, which tells you the room has real competition. For Powers-Johnson, this season is about moving past the inconsistency and injuries that have followed him through his first two years and starting to look like a long-term building block on the offensive line.
Jalen Nailor comes in with a different kind of spotlight. The Raiders brought him back in free agency to where he played his high school ball, and he’s listed as a starter.
Still, Kubiak’s comments about the wide receiver group, along with Nailor playing in the second preseason game when other starters sat, made one thing clear: nothing is guaranteed. Against a Dolphins secondary that looks vulnerable, Nailor has a chance to make the first real statement of the year.
And then there’s Kirk Cousins, who sits at the center of all the noise. No one has an issue with him personally; the only thing hanging over him is that he’s keeping everyone from seeing Fernando Mendoza right away.
That was always the plan, though. Barring injury, Cousins will start as long as needed until Mendoza is ready.
Sunday gives him a chance to get the Raiders rolling and calm the calls for Mendoza, at least for a while, with a strong outing and a win to start the season.
In Other News...
Raiders May Need An Unproven Answer While Brock Bowers Sits
The Raiders are already sketching out ways to keep their offense functional if Brock Bowers is forced to miss meaningful time, and one of the more interesting options involves a player who has never actually lined up at fullback before. Connor Heyward, who came into the league as a tight end with the Steelers, has given Las Vegas enough versatility in the preseason to make coach Klint Kubiak think he can handle a broader role in the offense.
For a team that leans heavily on Bowers presence, the idea of asking an unproven piece to absorb some of that workload speaks to both the challenge ahead and the flexibility Kubiak is trying to build. Heywards fit will be worth watching because the Raiders may need more than a standard backup plan if they want to keep the offense on schedule while Bowers is out. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Just Got A Telling Sign About Their New O-Line Depth
The Raiders kept reshaping their offensive line room this week, claiming guard Bryce Cabeldue while moving on from Atonio Mafi, who was claimed by the Tennessee Titans. Las Vegas also traded Jordan Meredith to the New York Jets, another reminder that the group up front is still being reworked as the organization looks ahead to 2026.
What stands out is how much of the 2025 line is already gone from the active roster. Alex Cappa, Will Putnam, Stone Forsythe, Mafi and Meredith are no longer with the Raiders, a run of turnover that points to a front office trying to upgrade the depth and reset the room. Whether the new mix is enough to stabilize the line is still the bigger question, but the early signs show the Raiders are treating that spot as a real priority. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Are Still Paying For One Brutal Drafting Era
The Raiders are still living with the long tail of the Josh McDaniels-Dave Ziegler era, a 22-month run that cost the franchise a staggering amount in guaranteed money and left behind a draft class the team is still trying to sort through. The 2022 and 2023 classes are a big part of that ledger, with first-rounder Tyree Wilson, tight end Michael Mayer and edge rusher Byron Young all tied to a period that never had much chance to settle in.
Mayers recent three-year extension offers a small hint of stability in a part of the roster that was supposed to be rebuilt quickly, but it also underscores how much of the evaluation from that stretch is still being written. Wilson remains a focal point, Mayer is now part of the future, and the questions around the 2023 draft, including the scrutiny that followed the Byron Young selection, are another reminder that the Raiders are still paying for decisions made when the front office and coaching staff were turning over at a rapid clip. [Read more 🡒]