Oakland Raiders: A Look At A Few Roster Needs And Potential Draft Fits
By Kevin Saito
Cornerback
The Raiders’ need for reliable cornerbacks can’t possibly be understated. Along with the linebacker spot, this is – by far – the most critical need for this team.
With Oakland expecting to part ways with Sean Smith after two disappointing seasons in Silver and Black, and quite possibly with David Amerson as well, after a couple of down, injury-ravaged seasons, Oakland is going to be incredibly thin on the corners.
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If the team does the expected and doesn’t wind up retaining T.J. Carrie (they probably shouldn’t), they’re going to be left with Gareon Conley as their default number one corner – which could be problematic for a few reasons, his inexperience and perceived lack of motivation/desire chief among them.
Even worse than that is the fact that behind Conley, the Raiders are left with Dexter McDonald and Antonio Hamilton on the depth chart behind him. Which is problematic for a whole different set of reasons – most notably because neither one of them are very good.
Which means that the Raiders will likely be dipping into free agency to find some corners once again. And they will also likely be looking at a young playmaker in the Draft. If they’re not, somebody should be getting slapped upside the head.
With the ninth or tenth overall pick in the Draft, the Raiders could possibly opt to take one of the top playmaking corners, of which, there are a few.
The name they might want to focus on though, is Iowa’s Joshua Jackson. Though some rank him as the top corner in the Draft, others have dinged him for a perceived lack of speed. But at six-foot-one, 192 pounds, Jackson can fly and has terrific instincts for the ball.
He’s got the size, speed, lenght, and athleticism you want to see in your cornerbacks, and if Conley gets his head – and body – right, they could form one of the most potent cornerback tandems in the league.
Other Possibilities: Denzel Ward, Donte Jackson, Mike Hughes