The Las Vegas Raiders are set to have a very talented defense in 2024, but the unit doesn't come without a question mark at the cornerback position, where Jakorian Bennett and Brandon Facyson are battling it out for the No. 2 job opposite Jack Jones.
Neither is a sure thing by any stretch. Facyson has spent the majority of his career as a backup, and Bennett is coming off a rookie campaign in which he struggled mightily and eventually lost the starting job he won in camp.
Knowing that, it's understandable why the Raiders were expected to address the position this offseason, and that expectation only grew stronger once Las Vegas lost Amik Robertson to the Detroit Lions in free agency.
But Las Vegas didn't make any significant signings and didn't address the position in the draft until the fourth round with the selection of Decamerion Richardson, who doesn't figure to be ready for a starting role in his first season.
When a rookie struggles the way Bennett did in 2023, one of the first things people question is the player's confidence. When asked about Bennett's confidence, fellow corner Nate Hobbs took issue with the idea that Bennett is lacking in that department.
“I don’t like when people say ‘he’s trying to get confident’,” Hobbs said, according to Levi Damien of Raiders Wire. “He’s confident. You’re in the NFL for a reason. Whether it looks like you got beat on the play and your confidence is down, that’s how it looks to the outside world. I feel like he’s a confident young man and he brings it every day. Some people need a little bit to get started. And when he gets started, he’s a competitor. And so he’s confident to me.”
As far as the concerns about Facyson, Hobbs came to the defense of his teammate, pointing to the veteran's 2021 performance in which he gave up a 55.6% completion rate and a 94.8 passer rating in coverage over 12 games.
“People forget how he started the last half of the season (in 2021) and went man for man with every top-ranked receiver and shut them down essentially,” Hobbs said, per Vic Tafur of The Athletic. “Once he gets in his bag, he is hard to stop. He is just a physical specimen. Great dude, too. He brings a lot of positivity.”
The Raiders took the field for their first practice of minicamp on Tuesday, and it was a good day for both Facyson and Bennett, the latter of whom nabbed an interception, per Levi Edwards of Raiders.com.
The defense brought the fire during team period. Cornerbacks Brandon Facyson and Jakorian Bennett took turns making plays on the outside, including an interception by Bennett.
While Hobbs' defense of Bennett and Facyson is admirable, the fact of the matter is it won't do anything to erase the concerns over the two cornerbacks. Only their play on the field in actual games can do that.
