Breaking: Raiders Closing In On Deal To Sign $70.2 Million WR Free Agent

Undrafted free agent can win at the line of scrimmage

The Las Vegas Raiders’ top three wide receivers are set for the season, but the remaining slots on the depth chart are up for grabs. That provides an undrafted free agent, such as Tennessee wideout Ramel Keyton, a shot to make the roster.

Keyton is 6-foot-3 and weighs over 200 pounds, making him an intriguing candidate for the position. Over the past two years, he has caught 66 passes for 1,204 yards and 11 touchdowns, with an average of more than 18.2 yards per catch.

So he’s not only large, but he can win down the field, and a lot of it depends on how he wins at the line of scrimmage, as evidenced by the footage below.

We’ll get things started with a great fade route for a score.

Keyton is under press coverage and employs a foot-fire release off the line of scrimmage to keep the cornerback guessing. He gives the corner a jab step inside and uses his inside hand to break the jam as the corner bites hard on the fake.

Keyton has impressive quickness and burst, especially for a bigger receiver, which helps him get some separation on this route. To finish, he goes up and grabs the ball, bringing it down in the endzone for six points.

Now, I’d want to see him pluck the ball from the air with his hands rather than catch it with his body, but this is a decent route and he demonstrates some skills to work with.

The following clip is similar, but instead of a goal line fade, it takes a go route near midfield.

Keyton stems to the inside on his release and grabs the corner to bite. This helps to generate space to the outside or toward the sideline, allowing the quarterback extra room to complete the pass.

Again, he demonstrates a strong burst to build separation and win the vertical route. Once he clears the corner, the wideout returns to his original course and stacks the corner, which, paired with his release, helps optimize the quarterback’s throwing lane. Unfortunately, the ball is overthrown and falls unfinished.

This reveals one of Keyton’s flaws as well. He doesn’t appear to be particularly quick, and it appears that he runs out of gas near the 40-yard line, resulting in the overthrow.

This time, the former Volunteer will face first-round choice Terrion Arnold.

Arnold gets him with a good jam at the line of scrimmage, but Keyton fights and eventually breaks free. The receiver stacks the defender after clearing the corner, giving his quarterback plenty of room to execute the ball.

This time, the ball is more accurate, as Keyton leaps up and grabs it out of the air for a beautiful contested catch that culminates in a 30-yard gain against strong competition.

This next clip changes things up a little as Keyton jabs to the outside on the release and runs a slant. He is able to keep the corner on his heels and once again gets the opponent to bite on the fake. This enables him to generate separation and win on the shorter way. If this had been a better pass, it would have easily been a third-down convert.

Curls are another effective method in Keyton’s arsenal.

He’s going up against Arnold again here and, granted, Arnold is playing off coverage with a lot of cushion. However, the receiver does a good job of selling the vertical route by keeping his shoulders down, which gets the corner to open his hips and start to turn and run.