Ballers & Busters: Risers and fallers in Raiders preseason opener

Preseason is a proving ground for a lot of the players on the Raiders roster right now. And the first event occurred Thursday night in Las Vegas. Let's look at who did themselves a favor and who did not. Ballers WR Jack Bech The second-year wideout shined as a receiver as well as a blocker, which is exactly what the Raiders want from him. He is expected to start this season and showed well for himself in that endeavor. Bech caught the first pass of the day on a comebacker he only caught by being aggressive and attacking the ball. Later on the opening drive, he was there to help open things up for Michael Mayer on his touchdown catch. Bech was ready to block, but the moment he realized Mayer was free, Bech eased off to avoid a penalty. Bech stayed in when Fernando Mendoza entered the game. And caught his first pass as well, laying out along the right sideline to make a nine-yard grab. The next drive, he laid a key block on the MIke Washington 53-yard run and then caught the touchdown over the middle to tie up the game. CB Greedy Vance Vance is in a battle among a host of other cornerbacks on this team. But unlike the others, Vance makes his hay in the slot. And the 177-pounder played a lot bigger than that in this game. The second-year former undrafted free agent made several big tackles for short minimal gain, both in the pass game and against the run to finish with a team-leading 10 tackles on the day. The only significant catch he gave up, he was in tight coverage and it took a one-armed grab by Reggie Virgil. LB Patrick Johnson Second on the team in tackles was Patrick Johnson with five. One of those was a sack, one a tackle for loss, another tackle for no gain. He actually had two sacks because Gardner Minshew was flagged for intentional grounding on the play. Johnson even had a tackle on special teams, which raises his star among his coaches even more. And he did all this with just 26 snaps (38%). QB Fernando Mendoza Showed everything you want to see from your young QB in his first ever start. He made several outstanding throws. His first big throw being a laser between defenders to Malik Benson. Then a perfect ball on a quick slant to Jack Bech for a touchdown. His first drive stalled, but he came back and led the offense on a touchdown drive. He only had three truly bad passes in the game on 16 attempts, while completing ten for 97 yards and the score. Solid day for the rook. RB Mike Washington On one play, he showed every bit what he can bring as a runner. On the Raiders' third drive of the day, he got the handoff up the middle, navigated through his blocks to get into the secondary, then cleared the last guy with a wicked stiff arm and then showed his 4.33 speed to break off 53 yards before being brought down. He and Ashton Jeanty will be a fun one-two punch to watch this season. QB Kirk Cousins Not to be outdone by the rookie, Cousins had a terrific outing in his own rite. He went five of six for 50 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive. This included a timing route on a comebacker to Jack Bech, a well placed ball in stride to Tre Tucker for 16 yards. DE Cian Slone The undrafted rookie had one of two sacks for the Raiders in this game. His other two tackles went for no gain and one yard. And he also got pressure that led to a run stop as well. Honorable Mention TE Michael Mayer -- Caught two passes including the 13-yard touchdown to open the game. RB Ashton Jeanty -- Had a nice looking ten-yard run as well as a pass block that allowed for the touchdown to Mayer. WR Tre Tucker -- Caught a 16-yard pass on the opening drive and did well to draw defenders to the middle on a rub route to give Mayer open field to scoot for the score. LB Quay Walker -- Laid a big hit on a run stop on the opening drive for the Cardinals and added a tackle for no gain as well. Continue to the Busters... This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Ballers & Busters: Risers and fallers in Raiders preseason opener