"I can't say enough good things. I can't believe Green Bay let him go, but I'm glad he's here," Oakland quarterback Derek Carr told the East Bay Times.
When the Packers released Nelson in May, his departure opened up $10.2 million in cap space for Green Bay. The cash-saving move was surprising because of the name, but Nelson is also a 33-year-old wideout who saw his yards per catch tumble from 13.0 in 2016 to 9.1 last season.
The veteran pass-catcher also appeared visibly slower on the field, but Carr says any concerns over his wheels loom as utter rubbish.
"The thing that you hear about that he can't run anymore. That's false," Carr said. "I can tell you, he's one of the fastest skill guys that we have still. He can run. You see that by his route running. If he can win on underneath routes, that means DBs are scared about what he can do over the top. He's still Jordy Nelson, that's for sure."
Speed aside, there's no doubting Nelson's field knowledge, with Carr saying "it's easy to throw to him because he's open," while adding: "He's very route savvy. He's very smart."
Ideally, the Raiders have found the right guy to pair with Amari Cooper. It remains to be seen if Nelson can do more for this offense than the released Michael Crabtree, but Oakland also houses Martavis Bryant as a deep threat.
"He's wired in," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said of Nelson. "You can see why he was a security blanket for [Packers quarterback Aaron] Rodgers all those years. He can still run. He's proven to us he can still run. We can line him up anywhere we want and he can run any route we draw up. We're really encouraged by him."
