Silver And Black Pride
Tackling is fourth-round pick’s calling card, takeaways should be offseason focus
A throwback to the classic Las Vegas Raiders architype for a defensive back, Decamerion Richardson is indeed as fast as he is big. The fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft brings 4.34 speed and a 6-foot-2 and 188-pound frame from Mississippi State.
Richardson, the 112th overall pick, brings something to the Raiders defensive back room that none of the other 10 cornerbacks on the roster can: That size-speed ratio.
That shouldn’t be a surprise, considering the 23-year-old was rated as the most athletic cornerback at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Garnering a score of 88 from the NFL Next Gen Stats breakdown after clocking in 4.34 seconds in the 40-yard dash, 1.48 seconds in the 10-yard split, a 35-inch vertical jump, and a 10-foot, 8-inch broad jump, the freak nature of Richardson’s athleticism was on fully display in Indy.
By The Numbers: Decamerion Richardson
Day 3 is an apt time to bank on athletic profile, especially for Las Vegas — a team that has a need at cornerback and more explosive athletes at the position. And Richardson is a textbook example of that.
While the Raiders do boast bigger cornerbacks such as veteran Brandon Facyson (6-foot-2, 197 pounds), youngster Sam Webb (6-foot-2, 195), and undrafted rookies Ja’Quan Sheppard (6-foot-2, 202, Maryland), and Rayshad Williams (6-foot-2, 209, Texas Tech), none come close to the pure speed Richardson brings to the table. The closest would be Webb who clocked a 4.48 40 at the combine back in 2022 while Sheppard ran a 4.52 at Maryland’s Pro Day, Williams a 4.57 at Texas Tech’s event, and Facyson a 4.53 back in the 2018 combine.
Speed is definitely a trait Las Vegas needs more of — in all three aspects of the game — and only one incumbent corner bests Richardson in speed: Jakorian Bennett who ran a 4.30 40 in the 2023 combine. Seventh-round pick (229th overall) MJ Devonshire clocked in at 4.45 while nickel corner Nate Hobbs ran the 40 in 4.48 seconds. Of course, timed speed can differ from game speed, but it’s a good indicator of how fast a prospect is.
Especially for a Raiders team that will be tasked with covering two newcomers to the AFC West that are fleet-footed wide receivers in Xavier Worthy (28th overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs and ran a 4.21 40) and Ladd McConkey (34th overall pick by the Los Angeles Chargers and ran a 4.39 40).
Defensive Fit
Recall Richardson’s athletic score from the combine above? NFL Next Gen Stats bestowed a production score of 59 to the Mississippi State cornerback which ranked 38th out of all prospects...
