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Las Vegas Raiders WR DJ Turner.
The Las Vegas Raiders‘ running game is finally showing signs of life and Sincere McCormick deserves some credit for that. Due to injuries to Alexander Mattison and Zamir White, McCormick has been elevated from the practice squad in back-to-back games and has played well.
For his efforts, the Raiders are promoting him. The team announced on Tuesday that they are signing McCormick to the active roster. This is a big deal for the 24-year-old running back as he’s been on the Raiders’ practice squad for three seasons and didn’t get a chance to play until this year.
He’s shown that he has some potential as he’s averaging 5.7 yards a carry over the last two games. The former University of Texas at San Antonio standout was signed by the Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2022 and has dealt with some injuries early in his career.
With Mattison and White being largely ineffective this season, Las Vegas needed a running back to step up and McCormick has done that despite only seeing 17 carries. He’s clearly impressed the team enough to earn an active roster spot and could have a chance to an even bigger workload in the last five games of the season.
DJ Turner to Injured Reserve
The Raiders continue to be ravaged by injuries. DJ Turner has been the team’s third-best wide receiver this season and has recently been elevated to a starting role. Unfortunately, his season appears to be coming to an end.
To make room for McCormick, the Raiders sent Turner to Injured Reserve. This is a disappointing development for the young wide receiver as he’s been having a career year. He had no receptions in the previous two seasons but 16 balls for 158 in 2024. He also has five rushing attempts for 33 yards and a touchdown.
Turner has been a special teams ace for the Raiders but he was starting to prove that he deserves a bigger role on the offense. With only five games left in the season, it’s likely that Turner is done for the year. That said, he showed enough that the Raiders should give him another look in 2025.
Injuries Continue to Pile up for Raiders
Heading into the 2024 season, the Raiders likely didn’t have enough talent to realistically compete for a playoff spot. Once the injury issues started to pile up, they had no chance to overcome them. It started with defensive end Malcolm Koonce suffering a season-ending injury just before the start of the season and has only gotten worse.
Star defensive tackle Christian Wilkins is on Injured Reserve, quarterback Gardner Minshew is done for the year with a broken collarbone and starting defensive backs Marcus Epps and Jakorian Bennett are also on Injured Reserve.
That’s not to mention that multiple starts like Divine Deablo, Maxx Crosby, Michael Mayer and more have all missed games due to injury. The Raiders don’t have the roster depth to overcome so many injuries, which is why they’re tied for the worst record in the NFL at 2-10. Las Vegas does have some good talent but they need to strengthen their depth if they’re going to be better next season.
