The Raiders kicked off mandatory minicamp this week and we got our first bit of news from practice. For the most part, teams treat minicamps like walk-throughs as they are still installing parts of their offense/defense. However, it is our first chance to see how some of the young players are performing in on-field drills.
In a recent article by Tashan Reed of The Athletic, he shared some of his notes from minicamp practice on Tuesday. One note was that rookie cornerback Jakorian Bennett has seen a lot of time with the first-team defense, lining up as an outside cornerback.
Here is a snippet from Reed on the fourth-round pick from Maryland:
Jakorian Bennett has stood out early. The rookie cornerback took significant snaps lined up outside with the first-team defense Tuesday. He has average size at 5-foot-11, 195 pounds, but his athleticism, speed and ball skills have helped him be competitive in coverage throughout OTAs. He’s looked comfortable and has settled in quickly.
Reed did note that the Raiders are using a heavy rotation at the cornerback position during camp, so it’s not fair to assume that Bennett is only working with the first-team defense.
The good news is that Bennett is already impressing observers during camp. The Raiders need some of their young cornerbacks to step up if they want to have any chance of being successful on defense this season. They’ll need Bennett to continue this positive buzz into training camp and hopefully, into the season.
