The Las Vegas Raiders activated 2023 first-round pick Tyree Wilson from the non-football injury list Wednesday.
The team originally placed the rookie edge-rusher on the NFI list in July as he continued to recover from the foot injury that abruptly ended his final year at Texas Tech.
Wilson obviously put enough on tape to warrant being a top-10 selection despite the injury and how much it hindered his ability to work out for teams.
The former Red Raiders standout combined for 14 sacks and 27.5 tackles for loss between 2021 and 2022. He was the No. 18 overall player and third-best defensive lineman on Bleacher Report's final 2023 big board.
Las Vegas could take it slow with Wilson's recovery because it already employs the services of Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones. Crosby is coming off his second straight Pro Bowl, and Jones held down the opposite side of the line in the first year of his three-year, $51 million contract.
General manager Dave Ziegler was blunt when he told reporters after the first round that Wilson will "have to earn a role here."
"We're not going to give him any opportunities, and so whatever opportunity he's able to earn is what he'll earn on the field and if he doesn't then he doesn't," Ziegler said. "... There's a lot of things that he's going to need to continue to grow at on the field and off the field. And we believe that he can do that, that's why we took him, but he still has a long way to go."
Getting activated now will at least allow for Wilson to get some practice reps before the Raiders kick off the regular season Sept. 10 against the Denver Broncos. He might even be able to get onto the field for one or both of their remaining preseason clashes.
