The Raiders’ wide receiver room is drawing attention for all the wrong reasons, and the surprise name at the center of it is Malik Benson.
For a team paying Jalen Nailor $35 million over three years, with Tre Tucker heading into a contract year and Jack Bech coming off a second-round selection last year, Benson being the most talked-about receiver in OTAs and training camp says plenty about where things stand. He’s the name that keeps coming up, even though he narrowly avoided going undrafted.
Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers didn’t sugarcoat it.
“If we’re keeping it a buck… out of all the wide receivers that are on the roster, we’ve talked about [Malik Benson] the most and that’s a little concerning when it’s a sixth-round pick that we’re talking about.
Not saying a six round pick can’t get it done. Undrafted free agents can get it done. But it’s a little concerning when it seems like the most talented wide receiver you have on your roster is a sixth-round pick that you probably weren’t expecting to have a big role his rookie year.
But he is getting on the same page with Fernando Mendoza. So I give him a lot of credit for that.
So that’s really the wide receiver room. I just really want to know not necessarily who’s going to be the number one wide receiver, but who’s going to be the number one wide receiver when it comes to like yards and touchdowns.
Who’s going to be the guy that’s consistently able to get open for the quarterback when they need to have it?”
That uncertainty hangs over the group, and Bech is part of it. He was underwhelming in 2025, though plenty around the team pointed to the coaching situation in Las Vegas as a major factor in why he never really popped as a rookie.
There was at least one encouraging moment this summer. In the Raiders’ first preseason game of 2026, Bech caught three passes and scored a touchdown. Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said it was the best Bech has looked since the Raiders drafted him.
Since then, though, the momentum has cooled. Over the past two weeks, Bech has reportedly been quiet in practice and didn’t see a target in the Raiders’ 22-20 win over the Texans.
Klint Kubiak has not offered much about who will play Thursday against the 49ers, but the final dress rehearsal before the regular season would be a good time for Bech - or any Raiders receiver, really - to make a real statement.
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