Graney: Raiders appear all but set on 53-man roster

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Weird. There might have been more coaches than players on the Raiders’ flight to the Bay Area. Had the look of a coin flip.

Which means coach Jon Gruden — for the most part — knows who he’s taking to a 17-game street fight.

Even if nobody knows how they will match up once the season’s first blows are thrown.

Those will occur Sept. 13 against the Ravens on “Monday Night Football” at Allegiant Stadium. The Raiders have two weeks to prepare for their fourth season opener under Gruden since he returned to a silver and black world.

Two weeks before Lamar Jackson sprints into Las Vegas.

A vanilla loss

There is a vanilla exhibition game plan and then there is the triple scoop of uncomplicated the Raiders offered Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, departing Levi’s Stadium with a 34-10 loss.

I mean, the Raiders didn’t bring much of anyone. There wasn’t a starter in sight.

A media relations staffer mentioned how open things were on the plane in a way he expected to play linebacker.

(And actually might have been better than a few who did.)

“I think you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t,” Gruden said. “You lose two to three starters in this game and the questions will be different. We took the approach to evaluate the guys we don’t know much about, so we try to make the right decisions when we cut down. We gave a lot of guys a lot of opportunities.”

You watch Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins be lost for the season with a torn ACL on Saturday and again marvel that any player of real consequence plays a minute of exhibition football.

It’s more about sorting out the bottom of the 53-man roster, which the Raiders must do by Tuesday.

That’s significant. This isn’t checkers. Dudes get hurt. You better have quality depth. The Raiders need more of it.

Nate Hobbs and Tre’Von Moehrig remained home. The rookies showed plenty of good from the secondary in two previous exhibitions. Didn’t need to see more.

Gerald McCoy played Sunday after the six-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman began full contact work last week. The man goes 6 feet 4 inches and295 pounds and fires off a snap like something from Space Center Houston. He’s a huge addition in more ways than one.

You also saw positives from cornerbacks Damon Arnette and Amik Robertson and safety Karl Joseph. You saw some forgettable moments from linebacker Divine Deablo and cornerback Isaiah Johnson.

Interesting roster decisions are to come at defensive line, secondary and wide receiver. It won’t be overly difficult to reach 53 bodies. It also won’t be a casual stroll through the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center.

“We’re anxious to see if we keep the right 53,” Gruden said.

It’s for real

There was a large red tunnel at the south end zone Sunday through which the 49ers entered and exited during pregame warmups. On its side was this message: Faithful to the Bay.

It’s thought to be shade thrown at the Raiders for their move to Southern Nevada. The 49ers deny such trolling.

Too bad. It might have added some spice to what actually transpired.

“If anything, my thoughts about the team are even better,” said McCoy, who signed with the Raiders on Aug. 4. “When you’ve been doing this as long as I have, more than the result, you look at the fight. We have a lot of guys who push through adversity and fight.

“When you have a team full of those kinds of guys, it can take you a long ways.”

It’s on for real. Here comes Baltimore.

Believe it: Come that Monday night two weeks from now, you won’t have to wonder if a media relations staffer might see time at linebacker. Unless, of course, he’s a really good tackler.

Ed Graney is a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing and can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.