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Buy or Sell: Oakland Raiders vs. San Diego Chargers

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:23 p.m. ET

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Buy or Sell is a weekly series that will examine statements about the Oakland Raiders and provide a “buy” or “sell” response. This is the Week 5 edition.

4-1 and tied for first place in the division — not things typically associated with the Oakland Raiders. But five weeks into the season, here we are.

After yet another thrilling win, this time against the Chargers, there is plenty to discuss — both good and bad.

Let’s examine some of the thoughts and opinions that have been discussed by Raider Nation in the days following the big win.

A statement will be given, and the answer will be given in a Buy/Sell format.

Oct 9, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders linebacker Perry Riley Jr. (54) is congratulated by outside linebacker Bruce Irvin (51) after forcing a fumble against the San Diego Chargers in the first quarter at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Perry Riley should start over Malcolm Smith going forward.

Buy.

This might feel reactionary, suggesting a newcomer in Perry Riley to replace a mainstay starter in Malcolm Smith after just one game — and a game where Malcolm was banged up, as opposed to being benched for poor play. But I’m taking the bait.

Malcolm has been shaky at best in 2016, and the only real reason he hasn’t been removed from action is because of the lack of options behind him. Now that Riley is on the team, that’s no longer the case.

And this wouldn’t be a move to replace Malcolm just for the sake of replacing him, or just to plug in any guy with a pulse — Riley was damn good in his Raiders debut, leading the team in tackles and also forcing a fumble on Antonio Gates.

You also have to consider that Riley is still new to the scheme and some of the terminology that is used, and he was of course completely unfamiliar with his new teammates. Which makes how well he played even more impressive, and it’s not unreasonable to say he’ll get even better as he gets comfortable in Oakland.

So why not give Riley a shot as the starter, even if Malcolm is healthy? The defense has been bad nearly all season, and any potential improvement should be given a chance. If Riley has a poor showing next time out, then simply just go back to Malcolm. No harm in that.

Oct 9, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Jalen Richard (30) before the start of the game against the San Diego Chargers at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The rookie running backs did enough to chip into Latavius Murray’s playing time.

Sell.

With Latavius out thanks to a toe injury, it was a big opportunity for both DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard to perform in his absence, and possibly eat away at some of Murray’s workload.

Did either running back do enough to justify that? Eh, probably not.

Jack Del Rio said as much himself post-game, that the team will “welcome him back”, (referring to Murray) when he is once again healthy.

Washington out-snapped Richard 37 to 23 (a 19 percent difference) but received only one more carry, and caught one less pass. So DeAndre was trusted as the pass-blocker when needed.

But DeAndre underwhelmed on the ground, totaling just 23 yards on 9 carries, which is an average of 2.6 yards per carry. His longest gain of the day was 8 yards. But he had an okay day as a pass-catcher — 5 receptions for 29 yards.

Richard was better as a ball-carrier with 31 yards on 8 carries, good for an average of 3.9 yards per carry. But that mark is still below what Latavius averages on the year (4.3).

Where Richard impressed, though, was as a receiver. He caught 6 passes for 66 yards, and was used on a couple of routes not typically ran by running backs. So if anything, maybe Richard earned some work as a third-down back going forward, but that would be it.

So many fans might not like to hear it, but the starting job still belongs to Latavius Murray.

Oct 9, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders strong safety Karl Joseph (42) is congratulated by cornerback D.J. Hayden (25) after recovering a fumble against the San Diego Chargers in the third quarter at Oakland Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Chargers 34-31. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

D.J. Hayden is actually good.

Buy.

Similar to the section about Perry Riley, “buying” this one probably also feels reactionary. But hear me out.

I’ve been just as big of a D.J. Hayden detractor as anyone, but I’m also a results-driven individual. Take Bill Musgrave, for example; go through my tweets, and you’ll find plenty of Musgrave criticism. But look at the Raiders offense in 2016 — it’s not perfect, but Musgrave has made big improvements this year.

Back to Hayden — he’s been awful in the past, obviously. But for three weeks out of five, he’s been quite good. Maybe even four out of five weeks.

So why throw out three bad years and say he is suddenly good after only three or four good games? I’ll give you a few reasons:

Now that he doesn’t have the pressure of being the No. 1 corner — and also face the opposing team’s top WR — that certainly makes his life much easier.

Also, sometimes it takes players quite a while to get the hang of things. Look at Sam Bradford, who is balling out in Minnesota after six rough years to start his career. Or Gary Barnidge, who never caught more than 13 passes over seven seasons before hauling in 79 in 2015.

Perhaps it’s just good old fashioned progression. A player working hard at his craft, taking his lumps and bruises, studying film, putting in the work at practice, and simply just getting better.

Finally, similar to the first reason given (about not having to be a No. 1 corner anymore), maybe the move to being a slot corner has allowed him to thrive. Hayden has always had excellent speed and lateral quickness, so his new role seems to fit him much better than defending wide receivers on the outside.

Whatever the reason may be — be it one of or all of the reasons mentioned, or maybe even none of them — there is no denying that Hayden has taken significant strides this year.

Call me an optimist, but the Raiders are 4-1, winning close games, and tied for first place in the division. Good things are happening, so why not believe that this is one of them?

October 9, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper (89) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the San Diego Chargers during the third quarter at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe Amari Cooper will have a breakout year after all.

Buy.

Cooper racked up 137 yards on 6 catches to start 2016, and Raider Nation thought the big breakout season was underway.

But then his receiving yards total dipped each week — 71, to 62, and then to 48. And he didn’t have a touchdown reception, and he also had a few bad drops.

Panic crept in, and one of the more notable questions/concerns after Week 4 was whether or not fans should be worried about Cooper. Especially with how well Crabtree was playing (and the offense in general), it seemed like there was really no good reason why Amari’s numbers shouldn’t have been better.

And then Week 5 happened.

Amari had nearly an identical game as he did in Week 1, with the same amount of catches and only one extra yard, but he scored his first touchdown of the year.

Not only that, but Cooper was also close to a much, much bigger game. He missed one touchdown by the length of his left toes, and he missed another touchdown thanks to a confusing rule about having to re-establish himself in-bounds after a pass interference penalty.

There was one other near-catch where he was ruled out of bounds. So if not for a few inches, Cooper could have had something like 9 catches for 175 yards and 3 TDs.

“What if” is a weak argument, admittedly, but the point is that it shows what Cooper is capable of, and how close he was to having a huge game.

I’ll end this with one a few finals stats — even though Cooper has been relatively “quiet” for the majority of the season, he is fifth in the league in receiving yards, with 456. He’s now averaging 91.2 yards per game, and his 9 receptions of 20 or more yards is tied for second in the NFL.

Breakout season.

October 9, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates (85) scores a touchdown against Oakland Raiders free safety Reggie Nelson (27) and linebacker Perry Riley Jr. (54) during the fourth quarter at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Reggie Nelson should be benched.

Sell.

It depends who you ask, but in my opinion, Reggie Nelson has now had three bad games and two good games.

Against Tennessee and Baltimore, I felt like he was solid, with a couple of lapses but several big plays. He was also in on a few turnovers in recent weeks, so it seemed like the ball-hawk of 2015 was starting to come around.

The San Diego game was a rough one. Nelson did recover a fumble (one that fell right into his hands) but he was beat badly on multiple plays, and really struggled in the secondary all game long.

From being out of position to letting wide receivers either get behind him or simply just get open, Nelson was allowing receptions left and right.

So why not replace him in the starting lineup?

The problem is, who would replace him? Keith McGill? Nate Allen? Brynden Trawick? None of those are viable options, and I can assure you each of them would be significantly worse than Nelson.

Also, Nelson was surprisingly voted as a team captain. That’s huge for a player that is new to the team, and it speaks to the impact he has off the field. He’s not a player that Jack Del Rio will have a short leash on.

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