We got quick cameos from starters, at least for the Las Vegas Raiders, who helped get their team off on the right foot as they picked up a 34-17 victory over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.
Offensive spotlight: The Raiders gave us our first look at new starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo under center, and he drove the offense efficiently down the field for a touchdown score. Garoppolo threw four passes without an incompletion for 39 yards, including an 18-yard pass with pressure in his face to another new Raider, wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.
The Rams gave Stetson Bennett the start at quarterback, and he played well into the third quarter as the favorite to back up Matthew Stafford in the regular season. Bennett had some ups and downs, including a pick-six near the end of the first half. He also showed off a lot of the flashes that have put him in this position to be the Rams’ primary backup, as he went 15-for-24 for 142 passing yards and ran in a four-yard touchdown himself.
Defensive spotlight: The Rams released Bobby Wagner, who played over 1,000 defensive snaps for them at linebacker in 2022, this offseason. With Ernest Jones expected to step into a much bigger role at the position in 2023, the answer as to who will start alongside him could be 2022 UDFA out of Iowa State Jake Hummel. Over the past two games, Hummel has been the starter with Jones out and has played an every-down role while Christian Rozeboom has rotated off in sub-packages. Hummel led the team in tackles and came up with a pick-six for the Rams’ lone touchdown of the first half.
#Rams HC Sean McVay was on the broadcast when LB Jake Hummel picked off Brian Hoyer and took it to the house for a TD.
McVay was pumped. pic.twitter.com/Q7Ni1wr2mx
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 20, 2023
Rookie spotlight: Raiders’ rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell continued to shine after a 90.8 passing grade last week as the starter. This week, O’Connell came into the game as the third quarterback and kept the momentum from last week going, throwing for 163 yards and two touchdown passes on 11-for-18 passing and a 127.8 passer rating. With Brian Hoyer, who came in as the Raiders’ second quarterback, unable to throw for a touchdown himself and responsible for a pick-six, O’Connell is getting some help in his quest to become the Las Vegas QB2.
Offensive line spotlight: The Raiders have a potential decision at right guard after Alex Bars struggled in that lead role last season. Greg Van Roten has made his case to become the starter in 2023. Van Roten has been getting the start in each of the past two preseason games and hasn’t allowed a pressure on his small sample of pass-blocking snaps including this game (unofficial). Bars came in after Van Roten and Jordan Meredith after that, even though Bars was third in the rotation last week. Van Roten appears firmly set to start the year at right guard for the Raiders.
Box Score
Passing
| Las Vegas Raiders | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int |
| Aidan O'Connell | 15.02 | 11 / 18 | 163 | 9.1 | 2 | 0 |
| Brian Hoyer | 4.76 | 12 / 22 | 144 | 6.5 | 0 | 1 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | 1.56 | 4 / 4 | 39 | 9.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Rams | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD | Int |
| Stetson Bennett | 11.08 | 15 / 24 | 142 | 5.9 | 0 | 1 |
| Brett Rypien | 0.56 | 4 / 4 | 14 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 |
Rushing
| Las Vegas Raiders | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long |
| Aidan O'Connell | 15.02 | 3 | 5 | 1.7 | 0 | 7 |
| Tre Tucker | 9.8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Brandon Bolden | 6.7 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 7 |
| Zamir White | 5.9 | 10 | 40 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| Ameer Abdullah | 3.8 | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 4 |
| Damien Williams | 1.9 | 5 | 19 | 3.8 | 0 | 7 |
| Darwin Thompson | 1.5 | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 | 12 |
| Sincere McCormick | 1.4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Los Angeles Rams | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD | Long |
| Stetson Bennett | 11.08 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Ronnie Rivers | 4.2 | 9 | 42 | 4.7 | 0 | 8 |
| Xavier Smith | 3.9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Zach Evans | 3.7 | 8 | 20 | 2.5 | 0 | 5 |
| Royce Freeman | 2.9 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
Receiving
| Las Vegas Raiders | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | TD |
| Kristian Wilkerson | 16.4 | 12 | 5 | 54 | 4.5 | 1 |
| Phillip Dorsett | 11.6 | 5 | 4 | 76 | 15.2 | 0 |
| Keelan Cole Sr. | 11 | 6 | 5 | 60 | 10 | 0 |
| Tre Tucker | 9.8 | 7 | 3 | 66 | 9.4 | 0 |
| Cam Sims | 8.2 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 1 |
| Zamir White | 5.9 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Ameer Abdullah | 3.8 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 |
| Jakobi Meyers | 2.8 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| Isaiah Zuber | 2.8 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| DeAndre Carter | 1.9 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| John Samuel Shenker | 1.9 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Sincere McCormick | 1.4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Michael Mayer | 1.3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 |
| Austin Hooper | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Rams | ||||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPT | TD |
| Davis Allen | 13.3 | 8 | 8 | 53 | 6.6 | 0 |
| Tyler Johnson | 6.5 | 7 | 3 | 35 | 5 | 0 |
| Ben Skowronek | 4.5 | 2 | 2 | 25 | 12.5 | 0 |
| Xavier Smith | 3.9 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| Zach Evans | 3.7 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Royce Freeman | 2.9 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 0 |
| Demarcus Robinson | 2.8 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 1.1 | 0 |
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