Raiders Top Five Defensive Back Targets
The Raiders made it through the 2021 season with some patchwork in the secondary. Brandon Facyson and Roderic Teamer Jr are just two examples. Similar to the receiver group the secondary needs some love. This free agent group is a good time for it too. With many veterans and a couple of good young talents, the Raiders have a pick of the litter.
Number Five: Jabrill Peppers
Jabrill Peppers is coming off of an ACL injury and high ankle sprain causing him to miss eleven games this season. With that, he may come at a cheaper price tag.
Peppers is a great player, but the Raiders already have a player that plays a similar role in Johnathan Abram. If the new front office brings him in it could mean the end of Abram’s time in Vegas. Or Patrick Graham may have an interesting plan for both of them.
Number Four: Quandre Diggs
We as fans learned the importance of having a player that can turn the ball over when given the opportunity. As a team, they only had four interceptions and no player had more than one. Quandre Diggs has forced three or more turnovers in five different seasons.
A true ball hawk safety would be a big add for this team. Moehrig showed good ball skills last season and him with Diggs playing deep, opposing quarterbacks would be much less likely to go deep allowing for the corners and linebackers to thrive in coverage.
Number Three: Desmond King
Desmond King has shown to be a versatile player and oddly an unwanted one. King has already played for three different teams and is only twenty-seven. He has the ability to play both nickel corner and safety and versatility is incredibly valuable on defense. Patrick Graham has already said he will put players in the best situation to succeed so the Nation can expect to see King thrive in this defense.
Number Two: Donte Jackson
Donte Jackson is one of the corners in the league. With the Raiders in the same division as the Chiefs speed is mandatory in the secondary. As football fans know, speed doesn’t make a player. Luckily Jackson has skills to pair with his electric speed.
He is one of the most underrated ball-hawking corners in the league forcing more than two interceptions his entire career. Jackson has also forced two fumbles in his young career. Aside from being a great cover corner, he is a good tackler. This is incredibly important at the corner position. All of the best all-time corners can tackle, other than Deion Sanders. His addition would be huge and inevitably make the defense better.
Honorable Mentions
My honorable mentions are Marcus Maye and Marcus Williams. Maye is another great option for depth at the safety position. He has been a reliable tackler and a solid player when it comes to turning the ball over. Marcus Williams is a very similar player to Marcus Maye, but younger. Both of these players would be great adds and great signings for the Raiders.
Number One: J.C. Jackson
There has been a theme with all of these players, except Peppers, and that’s the turnover ability. Jackson is the perfect corner addition to the Raiders. He is also only going into his fifth season and has been a turnover machine. The literal only downside to signing Jackson is the price tag. He is expected to get a very big contract but the Raiders can afford it and need to pay somebody in the secondary to really push it over the edge.