Alec Ingold was one of the most pleasant surprises on the Raiders roster in 2019.

Less than a year ago, Ingold was on the roster bubble as an undrafted free agent and in a few short months he’s already become Jon Gruden’s favorite player (we all know it’s true).

But on Wednesday, it was Ingold talking about two of his favorite players on the team.

“Derek [Carr] is the most relentless leader I’ve ever been around in any facet of my life,” Ingold said on Eddie Borsilli’s Yards Per Attempt podcast. “Just showing up hours before everybody else… he has meetings, before the meetings, before the meetings. He’s always in the film room. Seeing the work that that guy does, it makes me want to be better for him.”

Naturally, the other guy Ingold had high praise for was the NFL’s top rookie, Josh Jacobs. He talked about the disappointment he felt when he learned Jacobs didn’t win the Associated Press Rookie of the Year award, but said Jacobs was “all smiles” and “humble in defeat” after losing the award to Kyler Murray.

Regardless of the votes, Ingold and Jacobs were at the forefront of a Raiders’ rookie class that was arguably the best in the NFL. Of course, the only ones arguing against the Raiders class would probably be the Associated Press nitwits who voted against Jacobs for Rookie of the Year.

Speaking of, who exactly are these press “associated” with?

An associated bunch of dummies if you ask me.

twitter: @raidersbeat