Las Vegas Raiders

Stock Watch: Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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A weekly series recapping three players on the Oakland Raiders whose stock is on the rise after playing well, and three players whose stock has taken a hit after a poor performance.

At the conclusion of a hard fought victory over the Marcus Mariota led Tennessee titans, the Oakland Raiders are again on the upswing as we enter Week 4 and and a matchup with the Baltimore Ravens.

After an up and down game from multiple players, we look at our version of a stock watch — three players who stood out and three players who had very rough showings in Week 3.

Let’s start with players whose stock is on the rise.

Vadal Alexander

If there is one offensive player that Oakland drafted this past offseason that I was unsure about, it was definitely Vadal.

Just look here at what I tweeted after the draft regarding Vadal, and comparisons he received to budding star Gabe Jackson:

So maybe I was a tad harsh, but in no way did I think he could come in and play valuable minutes this season on this offensive line. But with injuries to Matt McCants and Austin Howard pushing them to the inactives list, and Menelik Watson (again) going down with an injury, Oakland was forced into a bind.

Do they move Kelechi Osmele to LT and Penn to RT, as they did against New Orleans? Or do they put the untested Vadal at RT against one of the NFL’s best linemen in Jurrell Casey?

Mike Tice rolled the dice with option number two, and it paid off, as Vadal showed improved footwork and quickness on the edge — two of his biggest issues coming out of LSU.

With the right tackle position up in the air, we may see Vadal continue to step up, therefore, his stock is definitely on the rise.

Cory James

Time and again over the past six seasons, since fan favorite Kirk Morrison was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Raiders fans have had to endure a mind-numbing amount of missed tackles from the ILB position. Be it Ricky Brown, Travis Goethel, Miles Burris, Kaluka Maiava, Malcolm Smith, Ben Heeney — the list goes on as Oakland fans have continued to suffer.

Then steps in little known sixth-round draft pick Cory James, from Colorado State. After a rough outing by Heeney in Week 2, Cory James was elevated to the starting ILB spot.

And while it wasn’t a perfect game by any means, throughout the game, James stepped up and made a play, but more importantly, stepped up and made a tackle, like this example (excuse the typo on the tweet):

Again, there are still issues to clean up regarding assignments and whatnot, but that is to be expected with a sixth-round rookie. Regardless, James is definitely trending upwards, and we can continually hope we have found our ILB of the future.

Karl Joseph

Finally, the ‘hitman’ is free. It may have taken longer than we had hoped, but KJ42 is finally free.

From leading the team with 10 tackles in 61 snaps, to just flying around and making plays in all facets of the game, Karl Joseph truly made his presence felt.

See here for example, Karl may not make the play himself, but his ability to create pressure and impact the play with his presence was definitely a catalyst for this Raiders defense, and I expect many good things to come of Karl Joseph as his Raiders career progresses.

Aug 27, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) rushes against Oakland Raiders cornerback D.J. Hayden (25) during the first half at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Stock Down

As always, there is a downside to every game, and here are three players whose stock is trending down following their performance in Sunday’s game.

D.J. Hayden

Time and again, if there is one player who is criticized more than any other on this team, right or wrong, it has been fifth-year cornerback D.J. Hayden.

Now, I will admit that this posting comes with one caveat, in that when Hayden lined up in the box with only run responsibilities, he excelled, making two very key plays in that regard. But as we’ve seen so may times in the past, Hayden was absolutely clueless in coverage.

On the above play — one of a few key passing plays in this game — Tennessee lines up in Trips Bunch left, with Jace Amaro as the no. 2 receiver split out (middle receiver in the bunch).

In tight man coverage, Hayden sticks in the beginning of the route, but on the inside break, begins to lose trail.

Instead of reading his man (again, he’s in *MAN* coverage), he bails to the flat, where there are already two other DB’s covering a single WR, allowing Amaro run free down the field.

These are rookie mistakes from the longest tenured member of Oakland’s secondary. It’s a safe bet that Hayden won’t be returning next year.

Menelik Watson

Now, before the uproar begins, let me preface this by saying that Menelik played very well on Sunday.

But that’s not the issue.

The issue here is the same as it always has been for Menelik, since entered the league in the 2013 draft — he can’t stay healthy.

Even when he is putting in decent reps, one injury or another pops up, and the question has to be asked; can we afford to rely on him?

With Vadal proving to be serviceable at right tackle, as well as the luxury of Oakland also having Austin Howard and Matt McCants, Menelik could be seeing his opportunities slip away.

Ben Heeney

Similar to Menelik and Vadal, it’s not what Heeney did during Week 3 so much as it was the positive performance of Cory James that put Heeney on the ‘stock down’ list.

After playing in more than 90 percent of the snaps in Week 1 and Week 2, Heeney only saw one defensive snap against the Titans.

For anyone who loves Heeney because he is an athletic player that flies around, it’s clear he has been very much a liability in run support and may be better suited at SAM, where he can utilize his athleticism.

With Cory James stepping up to the plate and having a very promising performance, we could easily see Heeney relegated to special teams work, especially if he isn’t willing to work at another position.

But expect Heeney to step it up in practice and push James for his job back. This one is far from over. A little competition is a good thing.

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