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Menelik Watson

Raiders’ Menelik Watson Ruptures Achilles

August 31st, 2015 at 11:36am CST by Luke Adams

Raiders right tackle Menelik Watson suffered what is believed to be a ruptured Achilles tendon during the first quarter of Sunday night’s game against the Cardinals, according to the offensive lineman himself. Watson tweeted out the diagnosis late on Sunday night, vowing to eventually return “stronger than ever.”

Watson, 26, was selected by the Raiders with the 42nd overall pick in the 2013 draft, and has started 12 of his 17 games for the club since then. In 2015, he looked poised to enter the season as the club’s starting right tackle — now that he’ll likely miss the entire season, veteran tackle Austin Howard looks like the next man up on the offensive line.

Watson has yet to be officially placed on injured reserve by the Raiders, but that will almost certainly be one of the team’s roster moves this week, as the club looks to reduce its roster from 90 players to 53 by Saturday.

AFC West Notes: LBs, Watson, Wilfork, Chiefs

March 16th, 2014 at 12:33pm CST by Rory Parks

The Broncos have responded to their Super Bowl loss by attempting to win the offseason Super Bowl, signing DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward, and (controversially) Emmanuel Sanders. However, they still have a gaping hole at middle linebacker, writes Mike Klis of the Denver Post. The Broncos missed out on D’Qwell Jackson and also had interest in Karlos Dansby, Jon Beason, Perry Riley and Daryl Smith before those players signed elsewhere.

If the season started today, the talented but oft-injured Nate Irving and the unproven Steven Johnson would be battling for the “Mike” linebacker position. As a result, Klis writes, the Broncos will be forced to compile a “Plan B” list of free agent linebackers and/or find a gem in the draft. Klis suggests Michigan State’s Max Bullough would be an intriguing option in the third round.

More from the AFC West:

  • After the Rodger Saffold debacle, the Raiders‘ offensive line is still in flux. ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez writes that the team would love it if Menelik Watson won the job and was healthy enough to keep it, but if Auburn’s Greg Robinson is still available when Oakland is on the clock with the fifth-overall pick in this year’s draft, he would be very difficult to pass up.
  • Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com writes that Vince Wilfork, assuming he is released by New England, would fill a major need for the Chargers as a run-stuffer in the interior of their defensive line. However, Williams also notes that San Diego has little cap room and would have to release someone in order to bring Wilfork in.
  • The Chiefs thought they had a deal in place with Emmanuel Sanders, but Sanders ultimately signed with Denver instead. But even if the Chiefs had landed Sanders, Adam Teicher of ESPN.com writes that wide receiver would have remained a top priority for Kansas City. The team signed CFL veteran Weston Dressler and has expressed an interest in Devin Hester and Jason Avant, but all of those players are complementary pieces and the Chiefs may be looking at Hester solely as a return man. Given that the Sanders deal fell through, Kansas City will almost certainly address their dearth of receivers in the very deep 2014 draft.