Rookie minicamp starts this weekend for most teams. A few teams, like the AFC West division rival Kansas City Chiefs, started theirs a few days earlier. The Las Vegas Raiders are on Friday, May 9.
Rookie minicamp isn't crazy. No scrimmaging with pads is taking place with hard hits. Most of it is running drills and installing playbooks to see how smart some of the guys are and to get them ready for the real thing, come August—training camp.
With Pete Carroll's defensive system, and Chip Kelly implementing a new offensive system, this time is crucial for the rookies, and even some of the guys who want to show up for support that aren't rookies, as we have seen Maxx Crosby do in the past. For the Raiders, they will get to see what their first draft class from this new regiome looks like up close and personal.
That means they get to see Ashton Jeanty run some routes and run through some tackle dummies. They will get to see Dont'e Thornton's speed up close and personal, and of course, everything else that they need to see.
But, there is one thing to note as we get ready for the Raiders to start camp on Friday -- all but two of the Raiders rookies, at the time of writing this, have signed their rookie contracts. And both of those two happen to be Day 2 picks.
According to the Raiders PR team, after a full day and even a few hours into the next day, second round wide receiver Jack Bech and third round cornerback Darien Porter are the only two who haven't signed,. Well, those are the only two who have yet to be announced.
This isn't anything to worry about at all, but it is worth noting. On Thursday, we learned that Ashton Jeanty has signed a fully guaranteed four-year $35,895,812 rookie contract with a $22,746,044 signing bonus, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.
Now we wait and see what Bech and Porter get.
