What to keep an eye on in Raiders preseason opener

The Raiders welcome the Seattle Seahawks to Allegiant Stadium on Saturday to open their preseason, but don’t expect to see a lot of Derek Carr or many of the key players the Raiders are counting on this year.

Their activity in the three-game preseason remains to be seen, as Jon Gruden weighs the merits of getting them playing time against the threat of injury.

For that matter, it would be a surprise if backup quarterback Marcus Mariota suited up after tweaking his leg during last Sunday’s scrimmage at Allegiant Stadium.

That would be a disappointment for Mariota, who is vying for a situational role this year. But the expectation is third-string quarterback Nathan Peterman will get the bulk of the snaps, a great opportunity for him to get some experience.

It is also a chance for young players like Tanner Muse, who missed his entire rookie season with a toe injury, and UNLV product Javin White to build on the work they have put in this summer at linebacker.

Muse is listed as the first-team outside linebacker in base defense, and White has gotten plenty of practice reps in the two-deep rotation.

Their development is key in a position group that is inexperienced behind veterans Cory Littleton, Nicholas Morrow and Nick Kwiatkoski.

Here are three things to keep an eye on Saturday:

The offensive line

It remains to be seen how much the rebuilt starting offensive line plays on Saturday, but Gruden did hint that rookie right tackle Alex Leatherwood and new center Andre James will get some snaps.

Leatherwood has been a bright spot in camp after being selected with the 17th pick in the first round of last April’s NFL draft. He’s won plenty of reps against some pretty good veteran defensive linemen. What also stands out is his intelligence and veteran demeanor, all a product of who Leatherwood is as a person but also the four years he spent at Alabama.

The Raiders traded veteran center Rodney Hudson knowing James has been steadily progressing under offensive line coach Tom Cable over the last two seasons. Cable believes the time has come for James to assume a starter’s role.

Neither might play much, but keep an eye on them when they are on the field. Their success — or lack thereof — is critical to the Raiders’ long-range success.

The defensive line

The Raiders added a number of new players to the defensive line rotation, many of whom figure prominently in the deep rotation new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is trying to develop. While the Raiders would prefer to keep a number of them in bubble wrap during the preseason, the numbers situation mandates a handful will have to play on Saturday.

That means there could be some evaluation time for Solomon Thomas, Darius Philon, Matt Dickerson, Kendal Vickers, Darius Stills, Carl Nassib and Malcolm Koonce.

Koonce and Stills, in particular, are a couple of rookies worth watching.

The young secondary

The Raiders have added so many young secondary players over the last few years, and their development was stunted a bit because of the complications and restrictions caused by COVID-19.

That could mean more playing time than expected for some of the younger members of the secondary, including Damon Arnette, Tre’von Moehrig, Tyree Gillespie, Nate Hobbs, Amik Robertson and Keisean Nixon.

With the slot cornerback job open for the taking and Hobbs and Robertson in the mix, those are two players to keep an eye on.

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.