Rookie Jakorian Bennett Doing What's Expected of Him

The Las Vegas Raiders needed to improve their secondary this offseason, and a big step towards making that happen started with the draft.

The first of Las Vegas two fourth-round picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, Maryland product Jakorian Bennett, showed a lot of promise in the Raiders' Week 1 victory against the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

What stood out the most was his tackling ability, as the rookie finished second on the team in combined tackles (seven) in the win, all of which were solo.

"JB [Bennett] did a nice job, had a few opportunities there to make some open field tackles, and I thought he did a decent job of getting the guy to the ground," Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels told reporters in a virtual press conference on Monday. "So, our corners need to do that if they're going to go in there and crack the safeties and all the rest of it, so at some point, the corner's going to have to be out there isolated on the edge one-on-one, and I thought JB did a good job of getting them to the ground.”

While Bennett's NFL debut was about as strong as a defensive rookie can have, Raiders Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham had known what the prospect was capable of.

"It all starts from the evaluation process," Graham said in a virtual press conference on Tuesday. "We value smart, tough, disciplined football players, and whether it's a cornerback position, the safety position, defensive line, linebacker, to play defensive football in this league, you have to be able to tackle. Especially as the skill groups that the skill players were facing on a week-to-week basis. 

"These guys were pretty dynamic. The offenses are trying to get them in space, trying to create angles in the run game, trying to create space in both the run and the pass. And it's important for us to be able to get these guys on the ground. That's the main focus, aside from limiting points. We got to be able to get the ball carriers on the ground. So, that all goes into the evaluation process for all of them."

The Silver and Black remain on the road next week as they travel to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 1:05 p.m. EDT/10:05 a.m. PDT.

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