The Las Vegas Raiders didn't address their wide receiver room the way most fans hoped this offseason. No big free agent signing. No top-100 draft pick at wideout. Just a sixth-round flier on a guy who's bounced through four college programs and never played a down in the NFL.
But don't make the mistake of sleeping on Malik Benson .
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The 195th overall pick out of Oregon turned enough heads during minicamp that it's worth asking a real question: Can this kid actually help Kirk Cousins and the Raiders offense sooner than later?
The WR room entering training camp is underwhelming by any honest measure. Tre Tucker has never topped 500 receiving yards in a season. Jalen Nailor is a work in progress . Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr. are developmental options. And Phillip Dorsett , who hasn't appeared in an NFL game since 2023, rounds out a group that's still trying to replace the void Jakobi Meyers left when he was moved at the trade deadline last November. The Raiders made no real move to fill that hole.
That's a thin corps asking a lot of a 38-year-old quarterback trying to resurrect his career after a torn Achilles.
Which brings us back to Benson.
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Sam Warren of The Athletic covered minicamp closely and his observations are worth paying attention to.
According to Warren, Benson made an immediate impression by getting behind the Raiders' secondary on multiple occasions for big gains, flashing the kind of vertical threat ability this offense has lacked. His performance earned him reps with the second team during mandatory minicamp and work as a returner on special teams. Teammates noticed too.
"He can run all day, he's fast," Tucker told Warren. "I'm very excited about him and his willingness to learn and take coaching. He's going to be a great player."
The pedigree backs the tape. Benson ran a 4.37 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine — top 10 among all receivers who participated. At Oregon last season, he led the Ducks with 716 receiving yards, caught six touchdowns and averaged 16.7 yards per catch. He also returned a punt 85 yards for a score against USC. Five of his receptions went for 40-plus yards, tied for third in the entire Big Ten. That's not a slot guy. That's a burner with legitimate playmaking ability.
Warren noted that Benson isn't going to replace Meyers' production overnight and he's unlikely to jump Tucker, Nailor, Bech or Thornton on the depth chart out of the gate. Fair enough. But that framing undersells what Benson could eventually mean to this offense.
Cousins needs a receiver who can stress safeties vertically. He needs someone who forces defensive coordinators to respect the deep ball, which opens everything underneath. Benson is that guy, if the talent translates.
Nothing is decided in June. But Benson's minicamp showing is the first real reason to believe this receiver room might have a ceiling higher than it looks on paper. Training camp will tell us a lot more.
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