As the summer nears, the Oakland Raiders will finally get to see if the early stages of their rebuild has paid off. After adding on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball, training camp will allow for the Raiders to see just how far they’ve gotten.
One position that could still be addressed however is cornerback. The Raiders finished 19th in the league with 3,853 yards allowed and tied for the league worst with 8.2 yards allowed per attempt.
Oakland did come away with a 14th best 14 interceptions. However, take away the three from locked-in start Gareon Conley and the team falls to tied for 18th.
Opposite of Conley, ESPN currently has Daryl Worley projected to start. Worley appeared in 10 and started nine games for the Raiders, making 33 tackles and one interception with seven passes defended. He received an average 55.6 grade from Pro Football Focus.
The Raiders clearly viewed cornerback as a position of need as they drafted Trayvon Mullen in the second and Isiah Johnson in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. Both have the potential to shine, but may not be ready to contribute right out of the gate.
While it seems redundant to add to a position you’ve committed two draft picks to, there’s no such thing as too much talent. As the Raiders look to improve their secondary, adding a former favorite of Mike Mayock could provide huge results.
Current Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ cornerback Vernon Hargreaves seems to be in hot water with the franchise and could be on his way out.
Recently, Hargreaves was held out of practice by new head coach Bruce Arians.
Bucs coach Bruce Arians said Vernon Hargreaves “has to get his mind right to practice. “ Hargreaves watched from the sidelines. Asked why he wasn’t ready, Arians said “you’ll have to ask him.”
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) May 14, 2019
While the reasoning wasn’t necessarily defined it proved that the new coaching staff isn’t dedicated to the former first round pick. After selecting Sean Bunting in the second round of the draft, there’s a chance the team would be willing to move on.
Hargreaves played three seasons at Florida and was named an All-American during his 2015 season. He amassed 121 tackles with 10 interceptions and 27 passes defended while at the university.
Coming out of college, new Raiders’ general manager Mike Mayock ranked Hargreaves as the ninth best player in the draft. He was slotted behind just Jalen Ramsey in his cornerback rankings.
After being selected, Mayock said that the former Florida product has “some of the best corner feet” he had seen in the past two to three years. Overall, Hargreaves was a favorite of Mayock coming out of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Now under scrutiny with his new coaching staff, there’s a chance Hargreaves could be on the block. If so, he could likely be had for cheap.
Hargreaves NFL career hasn’t panned out thus far. In three seasons he has just 125 tackles, 15 passes defended and an interception. However in 2016 when he started all 16 games he made 76 tackles, defended nine passes, forced a fumble and came away with his lone pick. He showed that given an opportunity there is a chance he could shine.
By adding Hargreaves, the Raiders would get a cornerback with starting NFL experience to compete with Worley and the rookies on the outside. However, he has shown a knack for playing inside and could function as the team’s slot corner.
In 2017, Pro Football Focus wrote of Hargreaves:
Over the next month, Hargreaves lined up as a slot cornerback on 57 percent of his defensive snaps and during this time, Hargreaves allowed just 0.41 yards per snap in coverage (eighth-best among cornerbacks) and held opposing receivers to a catch rate below 37.5 percent.
Between Weeks 7-10, Hargreaves earned the second-highest overall grade among all cornerbacks (just behind Baltimore’s Jimmy Smith and just ahead of the Saints’ Marshon Lattimore).
If the Raiders were to acquire Hargreaves, they could continue to use him in the slot, a position he shined in just two seasons ago. A secondary consisting of Conley, Worley (or one of the rookies), Hargreaves, Joyner and Abrams could be one of the more underrated in the league.
Trading for Hargreaves likely wouldn’t be the most exciting of deals. However, it would give the team a young cornerback who could bounce back with a change of scenery.
Mike Mayock was a fan of him as a draft analyst. If he still likes him, the Raiders’ boss should consider dealing for Hargreaves and seeing if he could live up to his college hype.
