Raiders report: Second-year RB ready to put last year behind him

There weren’t a lot of positive moments for Raiders running back Dylan Laube in his rookie season last year.

Perhaps that’s why his excellent performance in the team’s preseason opener to kick off year two on Thursday night felt a little extra special.

“It was awesome,” Laube said after running for 34 yards on five carries and turning his only catch into a 6-yard touchdown in a 23-23 tie with the Seahawks in Seattle. “It was so much fun. I had so much fun out there and the whole team was so excited for me, too. It was one of the best feelings that I’ve ever had so far.”

Laube, a sixth-round pick of the Raiders out of New Hampshire, didn’t have many moments to celebrate on the football field in his first season.

While he battled in practice and became a reliable special teams performer, he fumbled on his only carry of the season.

“I was so excited to get back on the field,” Laube said. “… It’s certainly been a long year and I could not wait to get back out there.”

It helps that Laube has a new coaching staff and new offensive system, so everyone was starting at square one.

“Coach (Pete) Carroll says he wants everyone to set the tone and bring the juice every single day and that’s a role I enjoy. I can bring the juice and (Thursday) I feel like I brought it,” he said.

Still, Laube knows there is a numbers game being played at running back with four pretty solid players at the top of a depth chart that includes first-round pick Ashton Jeanty.

“It’s just a cool room because everyone in that room too is super close, but at the same time, we compete every single day,” Laube said.

He knows his best path to making the roster is on special teams, so that has been a big focus. Regardless, he at least feels more steady than last year when he had to make the enormous jump from FCS to the NFL.

“For any rookie, man, you just don’t even know what to expect,” he said. “I mean, it’s been a dream come true, but at the same time, like you really don’t know what to expect, because most of these guys here, you’ve watched your whole life and now you are at the top. But that jump in year two, you’re just so much more comfortable and relaxed and like, I’ve got nothing to lose, man.”

Moving on

Carroll didn’t seem overly concerned with the actions of starting quarterback Geno Smith and star defensive end Maxx Crosby, who were captured making an obscene gesture at a notorious Seahawks fan who displayed a sign comparing Smith to Jamarcus Russell.

“Did you see what the sign said?” Carroll asked reporters Sunday. “Next question.”

Feeling wanted

When Thomas Booker IV left the Houston Texans, it was because he got released.

The defensive tackle now departs Philadelphia because the Raiders decided they wanted him and made a trade to acquire him.

“I see that the organization believes in me, like they believe in all the players here,” Booker said. “You can feel it, it’s palpable. So, you know, I’m just trying to give them a great return on investment.”

Booker didn’t arrive in Las Vegas until last Tuesday and was on the field competing in the preseason game Thursday night, getting his first taste of playing alongside his new teammates almost immediately.

‘That was great for me because it’s kind of crazy,” he said. “I was just practicing (with the Eagles) on Sunday and then got traded on Monday, so for me I just kind of wanted to keep that continuity of balling and getting out there and playing. Luckily, I didn’t forget how to play football in two days. So, it was good to get back out there with the guys and everything and just get running again.”

Full circle

Phillip Dorsett spent one training camp with the Raiders back in 2023, but his connections to the current regime run far deeper than that.

Current minority owner Tom Brady was a teammate of Dorsett’s in New England for three seasons.

“It’s different because I don’t look at him as an owner,” Doresett said. “I look at him as a teammate and a friend. His locker was right next to mine, so I know him kind of different than a lot of other guys. Like I said, it’s a blessing to be here and have him in that position and I can still lean on him for any advice that I can get. It’s a real blessing to be here.”

It’s not the only reunion for Dorsett, whose wide receiver coach at the University of Miami was Brennan Carroll, the son of Pete Carroll and the Raiders’ current offensive line coach.

It’s fitting Carroll is now teaching linemen because one of the biggest lasting impressions he left on Dorsett was the importance of blocking downfield for wide receivers. That’s one of the skills, along with his impressive speed, that has kept Dorsett in the league for so long.

“He always said, ‘If you can’t block, you can’t play,’ ” Dorsett said of Carroll. “So, I’ve always had that in my head. And I know I’m a smaller guy, but I love being in the weight room and I’m stronger than I look. I’ve always just had that mentality of going to just dig out safeties and block. I’m a very unselfish person naturally, so I love seeing other guys make plays. So if I can do something to make somebody else make a play, I’m just as happy as making a play myself.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.