Cornerback Clash & Starting Five Shakeup

THE CORNERBACK BATTLE IS HEATING UP

The battle at cornerback was one I had circled heading into camp, and so far, the competition has been fierce.

We’ll get this out of the way. Eric Stokes, the 26-year-old elder statesman of the group, seems to have locked down one of the spots on the outside. Since arriving in Vegas, he’s worked with the ones, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. The big question is, who will line up on the opposite side of Stokes?

Through seven practices, three of which have been in pads, second-year corner Decamerion Richardson and rookie Darien Porter seem to be leading the pack. For Porter, it’s been a pretty quick ascension. He’s been taking snaps with the ones since minicamp.

That mindset has shown on the field, too. He’s had his rookie moments, like getting beat deep on a corner route against fellow rookie Dont’e Thornton a couple of days ago. But most of those moments have been positive, like today’s interception to close out 1-on-1s against Tommy Mellot. That was a play that showed off an area of his game that could make him a lot of money in the league.

Thanks to his size, he’s a matchup nightmare, especially when teams try to test him deep. The receiver-turned-cornerback owned PFF’s top coverage grade (90.5) on deep targets (20-plus yards) when he was at Iowa State last season. Seven times teams took aim 20 yards or more downfield against Porter, and he allowed just one open look and came down with a pair of interceptions in those situations, according to PFF.

D-CAM MAKING HIS PUSH

While Porter impressed early on, second-year corner Decamerion Richardson started to make his push for more playing time when the pads came on. He popped in the red zone the first two days of pads, coming down with a PBU in coverage on Dont’e Thornton and picking off Geno Smith the next day when he was looking for Tre Tucker in the endzone.

When the previous staff drafted Decamerion Richardson in the fourth round out of Mississippi State last year, they made it clear he was a project player, and that showed in his first season. It took him seven weeks to get onto the field, and his first burn in the league, he took his lumps, allowing more than a 60% reception rate in all but three of his ten games where he was targeted. But he already looks like a different player through the first handful of practices in pads, and he’s getting pushed by his cousin, Raiders linebacker Devin White, to become a consistent playmaker for the team.

It’s still early, but D-Cam and Darien seem to be in the driver’s seat for the starting role opposite Eric Stokes, so stay tuned to see how that develops. Don’t count out safety turned corner JT Woods, though. He was a late add and has impressed Pete Carroll since arriving in Vegas.

WHAT ABOUT BENNETT?

I mentioned it in the last newsletter, but Jakorian Bennett seems to be on the outside looking in as it pertains to this cornerback battle. He’s taken reps with the first, second, and third team units through the first week of camp. It’s a curious case and one I dove into a little more in our latest episode of the Silver & Black Sports Network Podcast. ⬇️

MISS ANYTHING?

Catch up on some of our recent stories:

O-LINE SHAKEUP — IS JPJ A GUARD NOW?

We won’t beat this one to death because we dove into the battle for the starting center spot in Wednesday’s newsletter, but there’s been another shakeup along the offensive line.

After working with the second team offense at center, JPJ spent the entirety of Thursday’s practice working with the first team unit at right guard, next to Jordan Meredith.

That kicked offseason addition Alex Cappa, who the team signed to a two-year $11 million deal, to the second team unit.

Now the question becomes, will JPJ and Cappa swap days at right guard? That likely won’t happen; this screams “get the five best guys on the field” to me, and I like it for the Raiders right now. We’ll see how it develops.

For anyone asking, Cappa likely won’t slide over to left guard and push Dylan Parham for snaps there. In his seven seasons in the NFL, he’s yet to take snaps anywhere other than right guard. So it looks like it’s right guard or bust for him.

FANSHOTZ FRIDAY

We’ve got a new segment for you guys!

“FanShotz Friday”

By now, you have seen the phenomenal photos we’ve been using in many of our newsletters. They’re some of the best shots you’ll find of your favorite team, captured through the lens of our friend Arnie Bazemore of Fanshotz.com. Every Friday, we’ll feature Arnie’s favorite Raiders shot of the week that he captures at practice or on gameday. Check out his work at his site linked above and reach out if you’re interested in working with him. He’s a great guy and has been so supportive of me over the years when I was at NBC here in Vegas, and he’s come along for the ride with Silver & Black Sports Network, too.

OBSERVATIONS FROM PRACTICE

• The tight ends, Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer in particular, were heavily involved on Thursday, especially in the red zone 7-on-7 period. Mayer was really on one. He had a beautiful toe-tap TD catch in the back corner of the endzone against Lonnie Johnson Jr. Brock also routed up D-Cam on a fade for a touchdown in that same period. I wish I could tell you more, but just know, Chip is going to scheme it up for those guys.

• JT Woods 💪That dude was playing some physical football. I showed you guys Pete’s quote on JT above, and he was really impressive at practice. He’s brought that physical nature you see at safety to the corner position and was laying the wood on the outside. I’m going to be watching him more going forward.

• I mentioned it on the podcast a couple of times, but Zamir White looks like a different dude. He looks leaner and more explosive, and many of us in the media find ourselves talking about him a lot during practice. I’m interested to see what he does with his opportunities in the preseason games.

• Aidan O’Connel had another good day. He threaded the needle to Alex Bachman on a slant in the team after adjusting his protection pre-snap. That was just one of those plays that shows off how much more comfortable he is as he enters his third year in the league. He did a great job at the line overall, his cadence was on point too, and he even got the defense to jump late in practice.

• A lot of defensive guys mention the number of ‘Wow’ throws Geno makes at practice. We saw one Thursday when Germaine Pratt was in coverage on Brock Bowers on a stick route. Germaine was in position, going step for step with Brock, but Geno delivered a perfect throw right over Pratt’s ear hole for the completion. Pete even ran over and acknowledged that there was nothing he could do about that.

WHAT’S NEXT?

We'll be back out at Raiders practice today, then it’s off to Allegiant Stadium for a game simulation on Saturday afternoon. Those Allegiant practices are always fun. If you want to go, you can get tickets here for $5. All proceeds go to the Raiders Foundation, and they usually stop selling tickets after a certain amount, so if you want to go, get ‘em quick.

When the Raiders practice, we podcast! So with that in mind, make sure you keep your eyes and ears peeled for Friday’s episode of the Silver & Black Sports Network Podcast. We’re going to bring on our first guest! Former Raiders linebacker and new team radio analyst, Kirk Morrison, will be hopping on the pod. You don’t want to miss this one. Kirk is an awesome guy and is so fired up to be back with the Raiders. He’ll provide some great insight for sure.

Catch ya next time,