The Las Vegas Raiders' plan all along was to depend on several rookies and second-year players they have drafted under John Spytek to be productive this season. Las Vegas loaded its roster with young, talented players at positions of need, knowing there would be growing pains.

The Raiders' Week 7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams further confirmed what the previous three losses already made clear: Las Vegas' dependence on young players would inevitably cost them games. This is normal in the type of rebuild the Raiders have embarked on under Spytek and Klint Kubiak.

Las Vegas has a long way to go to consistently compete with and beat the league's best. Below are the power rankings for the Raiders' rookies and second-year players.

QB Fernando Mendoza

The rookie quarterback's stock is through the roof right now, and he didn't even play a down on Sunday against the Rams. Las Vegas spent months evaluating every facet of Mendoza before using the No. 1 overall draft pick in this year's draft on him. Sunday's loss makes it clear his time is now.

Mendoza's skill set can help Las Vegas offset its limitations on its offensive line and at wide receiver. Still, Kubiak explained that Mendoza will see the field sometime this season, just not during their Week 8 road trip.

“Eventually Fernando [Mendoza] is going to play football. We have a plan. We don’t have a timeline for that. Kirk [Cousins] is playing really well, and we’re in the hunt. It’s really important that we keep playing really well behind him and continue to develop Fernando, but Fernando is going to play at some point. It’s not going to be this week," Kubiak said.

Sure, Las Vegas has a winnable road game against the New York Jets, followed by a tough game against the San Francisco 49ers. Starting the rookie in either game would be questionable. However, even if the Raiders split those two games, Mendoza should start after that.

RBs Ashton Jeanty/Mike Washington

The Raiders' ground game has continued to struggle. However, these issues have long existed before Ashton Jeanty and Mike Washington arrived. Las Vegas has finished with the fewest rushing yards in the league in two of the past three seasons.

They finished with the third-fewest rushing yards in the third of those three seasons. Through seven games this season, the Raiders have the second-fewest rushing yards in the league. Las Vegas has swapped out multiple running backs during that time, while largely keeping the same offensive line.

Despite his ankle injury and the clear lack of the explosion that led Las Vegas to draft him No. 6 overall, he has shown his versatility by making an impact in the passing game. The Raiders have plenty to figure out, as their ground game has been largely rendered useless by their offensive line.

DBs Darien Porter, Hezekiah Masses, Treydan Stukes

Overall, Las Vegas' defensive backfield struggled against Matthew Stafford and the Rams. The unit, largely composed of rookies and second-year players, was simply outmatched by a more experienced quarterback and group of Rams wide receivers.

Stafford completed 23 of his 29 passes, with the longest gain of the day being 15 yards. Although the Raiders' defensive backfield eliminated the big plays, they failed to slow down the Rams' passing attack enough to give their offense a chance to work their issues out.

Still, the unit is about where they were expected to be at the start of the season.

OL Caleb Rogers

The Raiders started Rogers over Jackson Powers-Johnson again on Sunday. The second-year offensive guard continued to show a need for improvement, routinely missing critical blocks that led to negative plays. There were multiple plays where Rogers looked lost on the field.

Las Vegas must seriously consider adding help at offensive guard, as they don't get quality play at either guard position at a starting-caliber level. They also lack depth behind their shaky starting guards.

Rogers needs further development, as many second-year players do. However, his poor play only highlights a larger issue for the Raiders. The team may make offensive guard its top priority after the season. Las Vegas' offensive guards are holding the offense back.