What if Darius Stills makes Raiders’ 53-man roster?
2 min read
Undrafted free agent has been impressive
One of the players shining at the Las Vegas Raiders’ OTA sessions is undrafted rookie Darius Stills.
Stills was surprisingly not drafted after he was a consensus All-American and the Big 12 defensive lineman of the year at West Virginia. By all accounts, Still is making his presence felt. If he has a big training camp and preseason, Stills can perhaps squeeze onto the 53-man roster. If not, Las Vegas would likely try to sneak him onto the practice squad and develop him there.
Even though, Still has a great college player and he is looking good in workouts, his chance to make the 53-man roster may be tough because of who is in front of him.
If Stills does make the cut, a player will be surprisingly removed from the roster unless there are major injuries in the preseason at the position. The Raiders probably will keep four or five defensive tackles.
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Johnathan Hankins and free-agent additions Solomon Thomas and Quenton Jefferson are locks to make the roster. Darius Philon has looked good in OTAs. If he continues to have no problem shedding the rust of not playing in the NFL since 2018, Philon — who played for new Las Vegas defensive coordinator Gus Bradley with the Los Angeles Chargers — should make the team. The Raiders also have Kendall Vickers and they like him.
It could come down to Vickers or Stills for the final defensive tackle roster spot. Of course, all of this is a good problem for the Raiders to have. It shows the team is deeper and there will be great competition in training camp.
