The Raiders have several key battles going on during camp right now. Both the right guard and right tackle jobs are up for grabs, as is playing time on the interior defensive line.
But no position has been more competitive than cornerback at the start of camp. The Raiders have a good combination of young players competing against veterans for starting roles on the defense.
In a recent article by ESPN, they listed the biggest camp battle for each NFL team. For the Raiders, that was at the cornerback position as fourth-round pick Jakorian Bennett is competing with several veterans for a starting spot on the roster.
Here is a snippet of what ESPN had to say about the camp battle and a few names to keep an eye on during the preseason.
Recent veteran pickup Marcus Peters has one corner spot all but locked up, so that leaves fourth-round pick Jakorian Bennett and free agent veteran signees Brandon Facyson, Duke Shelley and David Long Jr. competing for reps.
And that’s not counting returnees Amik Robertson and Tyler Hall as well as slot corner Nate Hobbs, who also saw time on the outside last year but missed the first four-plus practices after taking a softball to the face in a charity game.
The expectation is that Peters, Hobbs, and Bennett will be the team’s starting cornerbacks (in nickel packages) for their Week 1 game. But the most interesting battle is happening behind those three players.
Tyler Hall and Amik Robertson are competing for the backup slot job and the Raiders likely only have one spot available. Facyson, Shelley, and Long are all likely competing for one spot, as well, as the Raiders look to add a veteran behind Peters and Bennett on the outside.
Nothing is set in stone as the preseason will likely determine who makes the roster and who doesn’t. But this is already one of the hottest battles on the team and it only should get more competitive as we get closer to cutdown day.
