Anybody who tuned into “Monday Evening Soccer” to shut Week 1 discovered themselves having fun with a few of the most unpredictable soccer of the younger 2021 season, with the Raiders coming again to upset the Ravens, 33-27, in time beyond regulation. A number of the faces for the victorious dwelling underdogs had been acquainted: Derek Carr, Darren Waller, Jon Gruden. However what about Bryan Edwards and Zay Jones, the large receivers whose huge performs helped headline the Raiders’ inconceivable journey to 1-0? Who’re they, and the way did they get right here?
Bryan Edwards, who got here out of nowhere to log 4 catches for 81 yards, together with a near-touchdown in time beyond regulation, after going practically 4 quarters and not using a single goal, is in his second yr with the group. In actual fact, expectations had been excessive for Edwards in 2020, when he joined the membership as a third-round draft pick of South Carolina. An ankle damage restricted him to 12 video games, nonetheless, and he completed his rookie yr with simply 11 catches for 193 yards.
This summer time, the 6-foot-3 Edwards drew lofty inside comparisons to Corridor of Famers Terrell Owens and Randy Moss, however opened Monday’s recreation because the No. 4 goal behind Waller, Henry Ruggs III and slot receiver Hunter Renfrow. After his late-game efficiency, which might’ve included the Raiders’ game-winning rating had his huge OT catch been upheld as a landing, Edwards figures to attract extra seems from Carr as one of many membership’s beginning outdoors receivers.
Zay Jones, who had two catches for 46 yards, together with the game-winning 30-yard landing, is in his third season with the Raiders. Initially a second-round draft choose of the Payments in 2017, he spent the primary two and a half years of his profession in Buffalo, peaking with 56 catches for 652 yards and 7 touchdowns as a full-time starter in 2018, Josh Allen’s rookie season. A yr earlier than the Payments’ commerce for Stefon Diggs, he was dealt to Vegas throughout the season in trade for a fifth-round choose, logging simply 34 catches for 301 yards with the Raiders from 2019-2020. This summer time, nonetheless, he beat out former Payments teammate John Brown for a reserve function.
Like Edwards, his snaps or alternatives might additionally see an uptick within the wake of Monday’s recreation, although he stays the No. 4 possibility on the WR depth chart behind Ruggs, Edwards and Renfrow.