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Jakorian Bennett recognizes a huge difference between how he's viewed now compared to last season in the Raiders secondary

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Justin Churchill | Last updated Jun 16, 2025 4:47 PM ET

You're not officially a veteran in the NFL until you have four accrued NFL seasons. But, sometimes guys are thrown into the role of a veteran way earlier than that. The Las Vegas Raiders have a player who fits that profile.

The Las Vegas Raiders have areas of this team, or certain position groups, that are extremely young. And, that is going to force some really young players to step up as leaders and play that veteran role to the rookies that the Raiders just drafted. The cornerback room, and really the secondary overall, is one of the rooms that are very young.

When it comes to the cornerback room, you have Darnay Holmes, who has some experience with the New York Giants, and Eric Stokes, who has some postseason experience with the Green Bay Packers, as the veterans, but out of the guys who will really play a ton and will be huge for this team, the new veteran is Jakorian Bennett, who is going into his third season.

Now, he's being considered the "old man" of the group.

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"No, I wouldn't call myself an old man," Bennett laughed. "It's good to have some experience, like I've been through a lot since I've been here. Third head coach and third DB coach in three years. I just try to drop down the knowledge to the guys, the young guys, because knowledge is power. So yeah, I'm just trying to do my due diligence, and just try to help everybody out."

Last year was Bennett's second year, and even so, he was somehow the best cornerback on the team despite being injured. He was on his way to being one of the best in the league before missing the rest of the season, too. There was a point in the season, while he was still playing, that he led the NFL in pass breakups.

Now he's entering his third season with the idea that he is the guy in the room, that he is the best CB, and the go-to guy. He knows that. But the rest of the room is so young, too. Guys like Decamerion Richardson, who are going into their second season, and Darien Porter, who is a rookie, will play a lot of football for the Raiders in 2025.

Bennett has been through a lot so far in his career and is a really good player. Those young guys will lean on him, and he's ready for that.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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