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Raiders defender greatly benefited from being thrown in the fire last season, and his teammates can already tell

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Justin Churchill | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 7:20 PM ET

There may not be a younger cornerback room in the NFL than the one the Las Vegas Raiders are about to trot out onto the field in 2025. And if there is, the Raiders are certainly going to have the youngest of all the players who actually play meaningful snaps.

You have Jakorian Bennett as the guy, and he's in his third year. Then there is Decamerion Richardson in his second year and Darien Porter as a rookie. Not to mention, there are some guys down the depth chart and projected practice squad players who are pretty young, too.

When you think about the veterans they have on their team, it's former Green Bay Packers CB Eric Stokes, who is on his second contract in the NFL, starting his fifth season, and then Darnay Holmes, the former New York Giants CB.

But, because of the experience some of these young guys have, including playing a ton last season due to injuries, they should be ready -- specifically Richardson.

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"A lot, you know what helped me was experience, so him [Decamerion Richardson] going out there in that fire, like, he handled it well," Bennett told the media last week during mandatory minicamp. "And I was always in his corner, if you need anything, I'm there for him because I know how it is being a rookie out there, you're like a deer in headlights sometimes. But he handled it well, though."

Richardson played the second-most coverage snaps of any cornerback on the Raiders last season, with 330 snaps. Richardson allowed a completion percentage of 59%, which is the third-best on the team of any player who was targeted at least ten times, per Sports Info Solutions. He wasn't amazing, but he was pretty good, all things considered.

Richardson will be a big piece to the secondary this year, and the Raiders know that. His experience he got last year is already showing, as his teammates can tell. And, who knows, maybe we end up seeing that Richardson has a much higher ceiling than we anticipated.

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

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