A third new wide receiver will join the Raiders’ corps. Following the additions of Antonio Brown and Tyrell Williams, J.J. Nelson is joining the fold.
The four-year Cardinals auxiliary weapon figures to compete for a similar role in Oakland. Based on how Nelson played during the Bruce Arians era, the Raiders may have brought in another key contributor. The 5-foot-10, 160-pound receiver is one of the league’s top deep threats, despite having been used in a niche capacity.
Nelson totaled more than 1,000 yards between the 2016 and ’17 seasons, the latter coming when the Cardinals had to turn to mostly backup quarterbacks. Nelson’s 17.8 yards per catch leads all NFL receivers since 2015.
In 2016, Nelson hauled in six touchdown receptions, and he followed that up by posting 508 yards on just 29 receptions while working mostly with Drew Stanton and Blaine Gabbert in 2017. But last season, Nelson was a non-factor. Working in the NFL’s worst offense, the former fifth-round pick caught just seven passes for 64 yards.
Oakland has released Jordy Nelson, and beyond Brown and Williams, this seems to be a wide-open competition.
Don’t let that Yards Per Catch fool you. He drops a lot of passes. I’m glad to see him go.
Lol im a raider fan and this looks like a stretch this man caught 43% of balls unless raiders replace in hands with someone elses i dont see much value or him making the roster.
43% average over 4 years…
Interesting that the Raiders dropped J. Nelson and picked up J.J. Nelson. Maybe the extra ‘J’ is the answer.