Most thought Johnny Townsend’s part in the Raiders’ punter battle should have ended last season. Even with no punter on the team
Bo Jackson Jersey White , it wouldn’t have been hard to find a punter off the street who..." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesSilver And Black Pride homepageHorizontal - WhiteSilver And Black Pridean Oakland Raiders communityFollow Silver And Black Pride online:Follow Silver And Black Pride on TwitterFollow Silver And Black Pride on FacebookLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchSilver And Black Pride main menuFanpostsFanshotsRaidersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Raiders StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Raiders NewsYahoo Raiders Team PageYahoo Raiders ReportYahoo Raiders Depth ChartYahoo Raiders TransactionsYahoo Raiders PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕AJ Cole knows competition for Raiders punter job continues even with Johnny Townsend outNew,39commentsPDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:AJ Cole knows competition for Raiders punter job continues even with Johnny Townsend outTwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailOakland RaidersMost thought Johnny Townsend’s part in the Raiders’ punter battle should have ended last season. Even with no punter on the team, it wouldn’t have been hard to find a punter off the street who could outperform him. But with a lost season, punter was the least of Jon Gruden’s problems. So, Townsend remained.At one point this offseason, the Raiders had three punters on the roster – Townsend, Drew Kaser, and undrafted rookie A.J. Cole. That didn’t last long as roster spots are precious and Kaser got the ax. Once that happened, it looked like the Raiders might let the competition go through the 53-man roster cutdown following the preseason. After the first preseason game, that battle ended. Townsend was out and Cole was the last man standing.“Yeah, I guess in some ways I probably thought this would go through the end of camp,” said a surprised AJ Cole.“[Special Teams] Coach [Rich] Bisaccia asked me if I had a chance to see Johnny and I didn’t really know what had happened. I said no and then he was just like ‘it’s your time to go, make sure you get your act together and make sure you play the way you’re capable of.’”“It kind of caught me off guard, but to me it just meant that they believe in what I do, they believe I can be a difference maker in this league. I just got to go out there and I don’t have to try and do anything crazy I just have to be myself and play within my constraints and do what I’m comfortable with and I’m going to help this team win football games.”Understand
https://www.raiderslockerroom.com/authentic-derek-carr-jersey , Cole initially came to the Raiders rookie minicamp as a tryout player and he didn’t even expect them to sign him. The four-year NC State punter never put up great distance numbers for the Wolfpack, but the Raiders were impressed by his pooch punting and saw potential in his occasional booming punts. Since then he’s had the opportunity to really hone in on his skills and be more consistent with those big punts.Those big punts had Gruden comparing Cole’s leg strength to Raiders great Shane Lechler and he even tossed in Marquette King’s name — the big legged, but big mouth punter who Gruden cut even before offseason practices began. The comparison to Lechler in particular, Cole called “unbelievable.”“Shane Lechler’s one of the greatest that’s ever played this position and to even have your name mentioned in that stratosphere is kind of a surreal experience,” Cole said. “I mean what he did for the punting position and just the consistency and for so many years. Playing 15 plus years in the NFL it’s incredibly hard to do.”Consistency is the area Cole had to work on the most in training camp. And his strides in that area have been noticeable. The final thing the Raiders needed to see was if he could do it in an actual game. Cole did that in the first preseason game, nailing four punts with no returns and two stopped inside the 20. That was the clincher that ended Townsend’s part in the competition.“Bisaccia said before that it really only matters what you do when the lights come on,” said Cole. “You can be a practice All Star but if you show up in the game and shank the ball and don’t play like you did in practice it doesn’t really matter. You could hit thousands of punts in your life and if you only hit 60 in a season, that’s the 60 everybody is going to judge you off of. And that’s the 60 that they’re going to rank you by and that’s the 60 they’re going to decide your future based on. So, it really only does matter in those situations so I think that going out there and putting a couple good punts on film in a real game probably played a factor.”Being a good holder was also important. He has improved in that area, and he and kicker Daniel Carlson will benefit greatly from Cole no longer having to split holding duties in practice.It’s important that Cole understands this isn’t the end of his competition. First and foremost, he must compete with himself. He must constantly improve in order to prove he has the potential Bisaccia and Gruden see in him. There will be more something like 30 punters hitting the waiver wire soon and Cole will have to show the Raiders enough to keep them from thinking the legs are always bigger on the other guys.“I don’t think the mentality changes at all,” Cole said. “I think that just because I’m the only punter here doesn’t mean I’m the only punter. There’s plenty of really good players that don’t have contracts right now and I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing.”Cole wasn’t just punting in the game Saturday, he was kicking off. It’s a skill Gruden has lauded because it shows Cole’s versatility. Daniel Carlson isn’t at risk of losing his job as the field goal kicker. Not after hitting 16 of 17 field goal attempts last season. But if Cole can show he can be a better kick off guy, he could be used there. Or at very least he offers some insurance at the position. Cole said he could even be an emergency field goal kicker.Nothing is a given at this point. It’s Cole’s job to lose. Continuing his progress will ensure he doesn’t lose it.Follow @LeviDamien ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — The knock on Darren Waller for most of his brief NFL career has been that his team couldn’t count on him.An injury cut short his first season and two suspensions limited his availability the next two seasons. Given a second chance by the Oakland Raiders
Derek Carr Jersey White , Waller is making sure not to squander the opportunity.“When it comes my way, make something happen,” Waller said Wednesday. “Just be consistent. Don’t be erratic. Most of my career to this point has been erratic. It’s been like, ‘OK, can we rely on him.’ I’ve done it for three weeks but can I do it again another week.”Waller has made a lot happen so far, catching seven passes in the opener followed by six the following week and then grabbing 13 for 134 yards in a loss at Minnesota last Sunday — finishing one shy of matching the team record for catches in a game held by Hall of Famer Tim Brown and Brandon Myers.His 26 catches surpass the 18 he had in 22 career games coming into the season and are one shy of Antonio Gates’ 2007 mark for the most ever by a tight end in the first three weeks of a season.“You don’t want to ever get ahead of it, but we think he’s very special,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “Obviously the production is now showing up. What he doesn’t get enough credit for is he’ll one play get a reverse speed play, then the next play he’s blocking (Minnesota defensive end Danielle) Hunter in pass protection, then the next he’s running a slant on Trae Waynes. You don’t find those guys. They’re not around. The fact that we have one of those is pretty awesome.”Waller has seemingly come out of nowhere to become Oakland’s most dangerous offensive player the first three weeks. He caught just 51 passes in three college seasons as a wide receiver in Georgia Tech’s option offense. He was then drafted in the sixth round by Baltimore in 2015 but had little impact with the Ravens as he dealt with substance abuse problems that he detailed on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” this summer.Waller said he was “getting high like literally every day” during training camp in 2016 when he described himself as a “vegetable.” He said he used opiates, Xanax and cocaine.Waller was suspended the first four games that season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He violated it again the following year and was suspended for the entire 2017 season, leading him to finally attend rehab sessions. He said this summer that he has celebrated his two-year anniversary of being clean.Waller was reinstated in August 2018 and spent most of the season on the Ravens practice squad before being signed by the Raiders on Nov. 27. He had six catches for 75 yards over the final four games in 2018 but showed the Raiders enough for them to let Jared Cook leave in free agency and make Waller their No. 1 receiving tight end.“They told me that I was going to get the opportunity,” Waller said. “As soon as you hear that, after all of the things that I’ve been through, I was like
Antonio Brown Raiders Jersey , I get one opportunity, that’s all I need.”Waller has improved as a blocker this season but is at his most dangerous when he is detached as a receiver in the slot or out wide and can use his athleticism to exploit bigger defenders and size to take advantage of smaller ones. He has made 15 of his 26 catches when detached from the line at the start of the play.That ability has allowed the Raiders to utilize two tight end formations more often this season to great effect. Oakland has more than doubled its use of one-back, two tight end groupings so far this season, gaining more than 1 yard more per play than in all other alignments.“Our tight ends can block, so if we get a nickel defense, we feel like we can run the football,” coach Jon Gruden said. “And if they come out in the base defense, we think our guys are versatile enough to be functional and do a lot of things in the passing game. So, that’s a really good personnel grouping for us, one we are going to continue to probe and utilize.”NOTES: The Raiders promoted LB Justin Phillips from the practice squad and released WR Ryan Grant, who started the first two games. … Oakland also signed LB Dakota Allen off the Rams practice squad and placed LB Marquel Lee on IR. … The Raiders signed LB Quentin Poling to the practice squad.