Raiders roster 2024: Wide receiver room after Jalen Guyton signing

While the Las Vegas Raiders didn’t use a pick on a wide receiver during the 2024 NFL Draft, general manager Tom Telesco has been busy adding wideouts to the roster recently. The Raiders signed veteran Michael Gallup the Monday after the draft, and Telesco went back to his roots by bringing in former Los Angeles Chargers receiver Jalen Guyton.

The Raiders also updated Tyreik McAllister’s position on the roster from running back to wide receiver, giving the team 11 wideouts. Barring a few minor changes between now and training camp, the position group is pretty much set heading into the summer. So, let's dive into what the group looks like and what role each player will play this season.

No. 1 Receiver

There’s no question about who the Raiders’ top receiver is heading into the campaign. Even in a “down year” where the team had a lot of instability at quarterback with three different starters, Davante Adams managed to log 103 catches for 1,144 yards and eight touchdowns. Adams, 31, is getting up there in age as he’ll be 32 on Christmas Eve, but he’s still one of the better wideouts in the NFL and the Silver and Black’s top target.

Second Option

Jakobi Meyers had a good debut season as a Raider, hauling in 71 passes with 807 yards and eight touchdowns as the team’s No. 2 wideout. The biggest question is if new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy will have Meyers operate out of the slot more often as Meyers did in New England. According to Pro Football Focus, he lined up on the inside 69.5 percent of the time during his last year with the Patriots but that figure dropped to 28.0 percent last season in Las Vegas.

Deep Threat

This should be Tre Tucker’s job to lose. Of his 19 catches, 331 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, six grabs, 215 yards and both scores came on targets 20 or more yards past the line of scrimmage, per PFF. However, the addition of Guyton adds some competition for the second-year pro as the former Charger has sub-4.4 speed and caught five touchdowns on deep targets in 2020 and 2021 combined. He’s battled injuries over the last two years, though.

Related Raiders sign wide receiver Jalen Guyton

Fourth Receiver

Michael Gallup should be the favorite to fill this role for the Silver and Black. Injuries have held him back from building on an impressive two-year run in 2019 and 2020 with the Dallas Cowboys where he combined for 125 receptions, 1,950 yards and 11 touchdowns. However, Gallup did post a stat line of 34, 418 and two during the regular season as the Cowboys' third receiver last year.

A dork horse here could be Kristian Wilkerson, who logged 17 catches for 188 yards and a touchdown during the preseason in 2023 and gained notoriety for his run blocking. The latter could be significant when fighting for positioning on the depth chart, especially since head coach Antonio Pierce has been adamant about wanting to establish the run.

The Rest

Of course, special teams will play a major role in which wideouts earn the fifth or sixth spot on the roster, depending on how many receivers the coaching staff wants to keep.

That’s where DJ Turner could make a name for himself as he earned a 91.9 special teams grade from PFF in the regular season last year and logged 10 total tackles. Also, Turner returned some kickoffs and punts during his final two years in college, averaging 22.2 yards on kick returns and 12.9 with one touchdown on punts.

Tyreik McAllister is another interesting name to keep tabs on. As mentioned above, he will be switching positions, but he did log 27 receptions for 364 yards and two touchdowns in the CFL for one season. Also, the former Hamilton Tiger-Cat returned 41 kickoffs and had over 1,000 yards (25.3 yards per return) with a long of 71 yards.

As for the undrafted free agents — Jeff Foreman, Ramel Keyton and Lideatrick ‘Tulu’ Griffin — they’re all probably long shots to make the roster, especially Keyton who had very limited special teams experience in college. Meanwhile, Foreman and Griffin contributed on special teams throughout their college careers, and Griffin had over 1,600 yards with an average of 30.7 yards per return in four years as a kickoff returner.

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