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Las Vegas Raiders Wide Receiver Surging up Depth Chart, Building Chemistry with Aidan O’Connell

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.

Las Vegas Raiders Aidan O'Connell Gardner Minshew
Dec 31, 2023; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell (4) passes the ball in the first half against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

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.

What Ramel Keyton Adds to The Las Vegas Raiders

cincinnati bengals terrion arnold
Oct 21, 2023; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Tennessee Volunteers wide receiver Ramel Keyton (9) catches a pass over Alabama Crimson Tide defensive back Terrion Arnold (3) for a long first down at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

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.

Las Vegas Raiders, Ramel Keyton
Tennessee wide receiver Ramel Keyton (9) runs the ball during a football game between Tennessee and Vanderbilt at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.

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About Matt Lombardo

Matt Lombardo is a seasoned NFL reporter, with over 12 years of experience covering the league. In addition to his work at Gridiron Heroics, Lombardo covers the NFL for Heavy.com, is an on air sports contributor for FOX29 Philadelphia, and writes an NFL Substack "Between The Hashmarks." Lombardo is the former Senior NFL Insider of FanBuzz, and prior to taking that role was a national NFL reporter at FanSided where he hosted a weekly podcast "The Matt Lombardo Show." A former beat reporter for NJ Advance Media (Parent company of NJ.com and the Newark Star Ledger), Lombardo covered the Philadelphia Eagles from 2011 through the 2017 season before moving to cover the New York Giants for the Star Ledger for two seasons from 2018 through 2020. During his career to date, Lombardo has covered five Super Bowls, four NFL Drafts, multiple NFL Combines, and has had his work frequently featured in publications such as Pro Football Talk, CBS Sports, and more. In addition to his journalism work, Lombardo is a strong on air presence and is a former sports talk radio host on 97.5 FM The Fanatic, Philadelphia's first FM Sports Station and the radio home of the Philadelphia 76ers and Philadelphia Flyers.

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