News » in place, the question becomes who

ALAMEDA Antonio Brown Raiders Jersey , Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Raiders placed third-string quarterback Nathan Peterman on injured reserve with an elbow injury Monday, a day after claiming DeShone Kizer off waivers from Green Bay as the fourth quarterback on the roster.Peterman had a strong preseason for the Raiders after the former fifth-round pick flamed out in Buffalo. Peterman completed 60 of 84 passes for 475 yards, three TDs and no interceptions for a 97.1 rating.But he hurt a ligament in his elbow in the preseason finale at Seattle last week and now will miss at least the first eight weeks of the season. Oakland has the option of designating him as one of two players who can be activated from IR later this season.Peterman struggled mightily with the Bills, throwing five interceptions in the first half of his first start in 2017. In eight games over two seasons, Peterman completed 52.3% of his passes with 12 interceptions, three TDs and a 32.5 passer rating.Only two players since the merger have thrown more passes than Peterman’s 130 with a lower rating. Scott Bull had a 24.8 rating for San Francisco and Kim McQuilken had a 17.9 rating for Atlanta and Washington, both in the 1970s.Kizer, a former second-round pick by Cleveland in 2017, hasn’t fared much better. He started 15 games as a rookie, completing 53.6% of his passes with 22 interceptions, 11 TDs and a 60.5 rating. He played sparingly as a reserve last season in Green Bay before getting cut on Saturday.Peterman and Kizer have the worst interceptions rates in the NFL over the past two seasons among quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts.“I’m a big believer that you have to take care of that position. Kizer is a guy that I liked coming out of Notre Dame. He’s only 23 years old. He has 15, 16 starts,” coach Jon Gruden said.“So he’s had a lot of reps. He’s had a lot of experiences. I’m sure most of his bad experiences, like Peterman, will be reported over and over. But I think he’s got a big upside. He’s athletic. I know (offensive coordinator) Greg (Olson) and I are looking forward to working with him. We have to fast-track him. He has a lot to learn in a short period of time.”The Raiders also placed cornerback Isaiah Johnson on injured reserve after he suffered a facial injury in the preseason opener last month against the Rams.Oakland brought back two players it had released over the weekend to fill those spots, signing defensive end Josh Mauro and linebacker Kyle Wilber.The Raiders were hoping to bring Mauro and Wilber back. Mauro has been getting work as a starting defensive end in the base defense because of his strength against the run and Wilber is a core special teams player.The Raiders also signed 10 players to the practice squad: WRs Marcell Ateman and Rico Gafford; DL Quinton Bell and Anthony Rush; CBs Dylan Mabin and Nick Nelson; OL Lester Cotton Sr.; RB Damarea Crockett; TE Eric Saubert and LB Justin Phillips. It wasn’t Paul Guenther or Jon Gruden’s plan when they drafted Arden Key in the third round of last year’s draft for him to be an every down player. He was to be a nickel rusher. A third down guy...." />Skip to main contentclockmenumore-arrownoyesSilver And Black Pride homepageHorizontal - WhiteSilver And Black Pridean Oakland Raiders communityFollow Silver And Black Pride online:Follow Silver And Black Pride on TwitterFollow Silver And Black Pride on FacebookLog in or sign upLog InSign UpSite searchSearchSearchSilver And Black Pride main menuFanpostsFanshotsRaidersOddsAboutMastheadCommunity GuidelinesStubHubMoreAll 321 blogs on Horizontal - WhiteFanposts Fanshots Raiders StoriesScheduleRosterStatsYahoo Raiders NewsYahoo Raiders Team PageYahoo Raiders ReportYahoo Raiders Depth ChartYahoo Raiders TransactionsYahoo Raiders PhotosOdds About Masthead Community Guidelines StubHub ✕Clelin Ferrell an ‘every-down defensive end’ while Arden Key not bulked up as much as Raiders would likeNew,124commentsPDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Clelin Ferrell an ‘every-down defensive end’ while Arden Key not bulked up as much as Raiders would likeTwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailOakland RaidersIt wasn’t Paul Guenther or Jon Gruden’s plan when they drafted Arden Key in the third round of last year’s draft for him to be an every down player. He was to be a nickel rusher. A third down guy. Those plans changed when they traded Khalil Mack to the Bears just before the season opener. Suddenly Key was being asked to stay on the field all the time, lined up across from his mentor Bruce Irvin. Come midseason, Irvin too was gone — waived by the team. So, it was pretty much just Key out there. He got his only sack in week six while Irvin was still with the team. From that point on, Key didn’t bring down the quarterback once.Late in the season, Guenther was asked what Key needed to do to finish off his rushes and get the QB down. Guenther said one thing and one thing only; “He needs to get stronger.”“We addressed that with him,” Guenther continued. “Obviously, you get into the season and it’s tough to build strength when you are on the kind of schedule we are. As soon as the season is over he’s going to take a little bit of a break Womens Antonio Brown Jersey , a short break, and then get back here in the weight room. I think we have a plan for that. That’s the most important thing for him right now is to get stronger.”We are now five months from the end of the season and from the sounds of it, Key has not bulked up as the Raiders had hoped he would.“We’d like to see Arden be 260 pounds some day, 270 pounds someday,” Gruden said following Tuesday’s OTA session. For reference, Key is listed at 238, which was his weight coming out of LSU. While it’s unlikely he’s still at that weight, based on Gruden’s hopes for his weight, it would suggest that at best he’s around 250. That’s not good enough.“He’s working toward that,” Gruden continued. “A.J. Neibel and our strength staff have done an excellent job. He has to get stronger to be more complete. I think it’s going to take a little time, but he is working at it. I have a lot of respect for that.”Key stands at 6-5, so he’s got plenty of frame to add the weight his coaches are asking. Compare that to Raiders top pick Clelin Ferrell who is listed at 6-4, 267 pounds. That’s right where the Raiders want their defensive ends to be.“Clelin is good. He’s a 4-3 defensive end. We needed a defensive end, obviously, to play on first down. Not just third down,” said Gruden. “I know that we need to address the sacks, but we need to stop the run to have a chance to rush the passer. We didn’t do a good enough job of that either. We have to get our pass rushers some at bats. To do that, we have to reject the running game. We have to get them to second-and-10, third-and-8, third-and-9. We think Ferrell has the credentials to be an every-down defensive end and also be a guy that we can build our defensive line around.”With Ferrell in place, the question becomes who will start on the other side. We posed that question recently and Key came back as the leading vote getter with 50% of the vote. After him it was a close call, with rookie fourth round pick Maxx Crosby edging (so to speak) out free agent addition Benson Mayowa.Whether Key is that guy will depend on if he can eventually put on the weight his coaches are asking him to put on. At this juncture Mayowa looks like the better option. Should Key not get stronger, he would be best suited for that nickel pass rusher the Raiders drafted him to be initially.