2 top Raiders draft picks won’t be ready for start of training camp

The Raiders will start training camp next week with two of their top three draft picks unable to participate. One was expected, but the other is a surprise.

Defensive end Tyree Wilson, the seventh overall pick in April’s draft, will start the season on the NFI (non-football injury) list, but that was the plan all along. The Raiders want to ease him into his first NFL training camp after he spent the past eight months recovering from a foot injury suffered in November at Texas Tech.

Third-round defensive tackle Byron Young will surprisingly begin camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list for undisclosed reasons. A person with knowledge of the situation said Young’s injury is relatively minor, but there is no timetable for his return.

Young, Wilson and the rest of the Raiders’ nine-player draft class — as well as their undrafted free agents — reported to the team Thursday. Training camp opens in full Tuesday.

Wilson’s NFI designation, which is available to players who suffer non-NFL-related injuries, is a case of prudence, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The 6-foot-6-inch, 280-pounder missed the rest of Texas Tech’s season after his injury, and he has been sidelined from any on-field work, including the scouting combine and the Raiders’ entire offseason program.

The lack of activity leaves the Raiders reluctant to throw Wilson into the fray on the first day of camp. They are choosing instead to create a runway for him over a period of time to ramp up his conditioning and endurance.

Wilson is eligible to be removed from the NFI list at any point. However, should he remain on the list after the club sets its 53-man roster at the end of camp, he can’t come back until after the Raiders play four games.

As for Young, the Raiders are counting on him to push his way into a rotational role this season, and any lost time is not ideal.

The PUP list is almost identical to the NFI list, but PUP is for players whose injuries are NFL-related, meaning Young’s injury likely occurred upon reporting to training camp or perhaps during the offseason program.

Young is available to come off the PUP list whenever the Raiders deem him healthy. However, if he remains on PUP beyond the 53-man roster being set, he must sit out the first six games of the season.

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