The Las Vegas Raiders can play spoiler in Week 13. The Los Angeles Chargers head into the game in a tight race for an AFC Wild Card spot, currently tied with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills, while leading the Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers/Baltimore Ravens, and Houston Texans by just one game.
However, we’ll continue to focus on the Raiders’ young players for this week’s key matchups, despite Pete Carroll making that increasingly difficult…
Darien Porter vs. Quentin Johnston
As alluded to in the statement above, one of the recent frustrations with Carroll is that he continues to give Kyu Blu Kelly playing time over Porter. But, to the coach’s credit, the rookie has seen the field more often over the last month, recording three starts and 147 defensive snaps in Las Vegas’ last four games, per Pro Football Focus.
Porter has put up good numbers when called upon, drawing 11 targets and allowing six catches for 74 yards on the year, with five of those grabs and 65 yards coming in one game against the Jaguars, per PFF. Granted, the rookie has had a few lapses where he gets beaten and either doesn’t get thrown at or is bailed out by an errant pass.
However, Kelly has been far from a shutdown corner, to say the least, so there’s still no reason why the third-round pick shouldn’t get the lion’s share of the reps on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Johnston has become a significant factor in Los Angeles’ offense this season. He’s the offense’s fourth-leading receiver with 502 yards, but quarterback Justin Herbert has been spreading the ball around. Johnston is only 142 yards behind the team’s top wideout, Ladd McConkey.
Also, the third-year pro has been the Chargers’ top deep threat this season, leading the team with seven catches, 205 yards and three touchdowns on passes 20 or more yards past the line of scrimmage, per PFF. Additionally, he’s second to Keenan Allen in contested targets (15 to 20) and contested catches (eight to 10) while owning the higher success rate (53.3 percent to 50 percent).
Considering those numbers and the fact that Johnston is 6-foot-3, that sets up for a very intriguing matchup on the perimeter with the 6-foot-3 corner who has 4.3 speed.
Jeremy Chinn vs. Oronde Gadsden II
Including Chinn is stretching the definition of “young players” since he turns 28 at the end of February. But the Raiders are in a situation where they should be evaluating who can be part of the organization’s long-term plan, and he’s only on a two-year contract.
Especially if the club leans into the rebuild this offseason, Chinn could be on the chopping block since his deal carries just $6.25 million of dead cap space if he’s cut and $2 million if traded, while saving about $3.4 million and $7.6 million of cap space in those respective scenarios, per Over The Cap. In other words, the veteran still has something to prove over the next six weeks.
This Sunday could go a long way towards building the free-agent addition’s case, seeing as Gadsden has emerged as a legitimate threat in Los Angeles.
The rookie tight end was a healthy scratch during the first two weeks of the season, but has been a fixture in the offense in the nine games since then, ranking third on the team with 37 catches and 507 yards. He’s had at least 40 yards six times and turned heads with a seven-catch, 164-yard, one-touchdown performance in Week 7 against the Indianapolis Colts.
Meanwhile, Chinn has posted good numbers in coverage this season, surrendering just 177 receiving yards to earn a 71.1 coverage grade from PFF. Also, he’s only given up more than 40 yards when targeted in just two games, setting up for a matchup of who gives in first between the rookie and the six-year veteran.
Thomas Booker IV vs. Mekhi Becton
The Raiders need someone to step up at defensive tackle, and the coaching staff has given Booker plenty of opportunities to prove himself. He’s played in all 11 games, starting nine of them, and has recorded 362 total snaps on the year.
However, the 26-year-old hasn’t taken advantage of the reps, posting just 14 pressures (six since Week 3), while only logging seven ‘defensive stops’ against the run and a 45.8 PFF run defense grade. For context, those figures rank tied for 55th, tied for 87th and tied for 111th, respectively, among qualifying defensive tackles (80 pass rush snaps, 54 run defense snaps) this season.
It’s time for Booker to produce or make way for someone else to step into his role moving forward, and a similar statement could be said about the Chargers’ right guard.
Becton revived his career by sliding inside and winning a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles last season, leading to a two-year, $20 million contract from Los Angeles in the offseason. But the Chargers haven’t gotten what they bargained for, as he ranks 86th out of 89 qualifying guards (minimum 167 snaps) with a 40.5 overall PFF grade in 2025. The former Eagle also owns marks in the 40s as both a run blocker (41.4) and pass protector (47.9).
According to Over The Cap, the Chargers could move on from Becton this spring and only take on $2.5 million of dead cap while saving $10 million. In other words, the loser of this matchup could find themselves looking for a job in the spring.
