Raiders mailbag: Fans get answers before Chargers game

The 3-0 Raiders visit the 2-1 Los Angeles Chargers on “Monday Night Football,” and for the first time in years, both teams are among the best in the AFC.

The early-season showdown could play a major role in how things turn out in the AFC West, and with the Kansas City Chiefs showing early signs of trouble, a changing of the guard atop the division could be on the horizon.

No surprise, then, that Raiders fans have plenty of questions. Here is a sampling of what arrived in this week’s mailbag:

Chris Dos Santos (@cdossantos2): Why didn’t Raiders kick the tires on Richard Sherman?

(Vincent Bonsignore): Going back to March, the Raiders did their due diligence on tons of players. The sense is, Sherman, who signed with the Buccaneers this week, was among those they checked out. But once Casey Hayward signed in early May, that ship sailed.

Fast forward to now, and the Raiders are the only team in the NFL with two cornerbacks ranked in the top 10 by Pro Football Focus — Hayward at No. 2 and Nate Hobbs at No. 8 — and with Trayvon Mullen at No. 21, they are the only team with three corners in the top 21.

The Raiders also have a development plan for Damon Arnette, and Sherman’s presence as a reserve would have compromised that.

JThizz (@thedifference19): Who is the odd man out of the running back rotation with Jalen Richard coming back? Also, what is the team overall price hit this year for the RB room now?

(VB): Richard was designated to return to practice from the injured reserve list, but he isn’t part of the 53-man roster. The Raiders have 20 more days to make a decision on whether to activate him.

If Richard returns anytime soon, the Raiders could carry four running backs — he, Josh Jacobs, Kenyan Drake and Peyton Barber, with one of them a candidate to be inactive on game day.

The four running backs represent a total of $10,604,563 in salary.

Kenny Nauta (@_kennynauta): I saw a few posts saying the Raiders are wearing their black uniforms on Monday. I know Raider Nation is getting ready to black out SoFi. Are we gonna see the home jerseys on “Monday Night Football”?

(VB): Based on the most recent reporting, the Chargers will wear their powder blue uniforms, which means the Raiders will be in their white jerseys.

That is probably a sound decision by the Chargers given how everything is pointing to a decidedly heavy contingency of Raiders fans at SoFi Stadium. The last thing the Chargers want to do is turn up the volume even more on what will be a home-game feel for the Raiders.

D-Tech (@Dsheep3): Nick Morrow status?

(VB): The Raiders linebacker remains on the injured reserve list with a knee injury. Morrow is eligible to come off, but he did not practice this week with the Raiders, and there have been no updates on his status.

Hook Jr. (@DominionRaider): It’s not Nick Martin time, right? Andre James should remain in place to allow him to develop?

(VB): While the Raiders’ first-year center has struggled, the Raiders are practicing patience with the hope he will develop with more playing time.

The Raiders’ plan for James was to flank him with veterans Richie Incognito and Denzelle Good, giving him two experienced voices and sounding boards. Injuries to both players sabotaged those plans, though.

Should James continue to struggle, and the Raiders begin losing games as a result, that would change things,

Bobby Fanatic (@916SportSource): What is the most significant change you’ve seen from last year to this year? And if you have to put an honest prediction, what’s your outcome of Monday’s game?

(VB): The Raiders have much better depth across the board, and in Yannick Ngakoue, Casey Hayward, Denzel Perryman and K.J. Wright, they have productive, experienced veterans at all three levels of their defense. Lastly, the synergy between new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and his positional assistants is much improved compared to what was happening with the previous defensive staff. And that shows in how schemes and concepts and game plans are being delivered and how they are being digested by the players in a way that expresses confidence rather than skepticism.

The Raiders’ defensive players believe in what Bradley and his staff are teaching, and it shows.

Prediction: A classic AFC West battle that legendary play-by-play announcers Curt Gowdy and Dick Enberg would approve of.

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