While the Las Vegas Raiders‘ training camp quarterback battle grabs the headlines, a young wide receiver has been on the receiving end of several big plays during practice and seems to be surging up the depth chart.
Rookie undrafted free agent Ramel Keyton has been turning heads throughout the summer and appears well on his way to making the Raiders’ roster, and perhaps vying for quality snaps when the 2024 campaign kicks off.
This week, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce even moved Keyton up to the second-team offense, and the young receiver has been building confidence and chemistry with quarterback Aidan O’Connell, as a result.
Antonio Pierce mentioned earlier today he told receivers coach Edgar Bennett to give UDFA Ramel Keyton some more reps with the second-team.
The former Tennessee Volunteer just caught a deep ball on a post from Aidan O’Connell for a touchdown.#Raiders
— Levi Edwards (@theleviedwards) August 5, 2024
What Ramel Keyton Adds to The Las Vegas Raiders
Last season in Knoxville, Keyton set new career highs with 35 receptions for 642 yards and six touchdowns while averaging an explosive 18.3 yards per reception.
“I asked EB the other day to start getting him some more reps with the twos, get out of that younger guy group and see how he competes with some of our other veteran players and he’s done a good job,” Pierce told reporters. “He’s had some catches, ,made some tough catches in traffic, but he’s had drops too as a rookie so just working on inconsistency, working on alignment and just that strain that we are looking for, you know their legs are getting tired, we’ve had several live practices now… You just gotta fight through it.”
Keyton, 6-foot-3 and 197 pounds, is the kind of big-bodied receiver who could be a big red-zone target and solid big-play complement to Davante Adams in the Raiders’ receiving corps.
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