Silver And Black Pride
Answering Raider Nation’s questions for the week
I hope everyone enjoyed the Fourth of July and has a great holiday weekend! What better way to keep the vibes going than to dive into this week’s mailbag column, focusing on a 2025 season preview for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Q: Do you think Jakorian Bennett gets a look in the slot in camp and preseason? He doesn’t fit Pete Carroll’s mold for boundary corner size, but he’s not small by NFL cornerback standards
A: This is something I’ve been thinking about recently, and if Bennett is going to be working with the second team as a boundary corner, I don’t see why the coaching staff wouldn’t try him at nickel this summer.
As you pointed out, Bennett doesn’t fit the Carroll mold on the outside, but he does have decent size for a nickelback. Also, I think he has the quickness and change-of-direction skills to cover the shorter routes on the inside.
The two big issues with the third-year pro at slot corner are: he doesn’t have the experience at that spot, and his tackling.
According to Pro Football Focus, Bennett did take 228 snaps at nickel in college but was predominantly on the boundary with 1,305 snaps there. PFF also has him with 15 missed tackles at a 22.4 percent rate in the pros, and that was part of the reason he got benched as a rookie. With one less linebacker on the field in nickel personnel, defenses rely on the slot corner to provide run support and tackle, which isn’t his strong suit.
That being said, the experience portion can be solved by getting more reps in training camp, and Bennett should be working on his tackling regardless of what position he’s playing. Seeing as the Raiders have more questions than answers at nickelback, I don’t see why they wouldn’t at least try the Maryland product on the inside if he’s not going to start on the boundary.
Q: What do you think of trading for CB Jamel Dean (Tampa Bay)? Do you think Bennett could be part of a trade?
A: I like Dean as a player because he’s been pretty consistent throughout his career, earning PFF coverage grades between 72.5 and 78.9 in each of his six NFL seasons. That type of year-to-year consistency at cornerback is rare, and he’d be the best corner on the roster heading into training camp.
Dean’s contract is the only thing that gives pause about trading for him. According to Over The Cap, he’s signed through 2026 but would be a $13 million cap hit this year and $13.5 million next year. That said, the Raiders have plenty of cap space right now ($31.3 million) and in 2026 ($91 million), where money shouldn’t be too much of a deterrent.
So, I wouldn’t mind John Spytek swinging a deal with his old boss to bring in the veteran corner. However, I would like to see them hold onto a young guy like...
