Film room: How Johnston got the best of Richardson

How the rookie can grow from a tough end to the season

The 2024 season didn’t end the way cornerback Decamerion Richardson wanted it to. During the Las Vegas Raiders’ Week 18 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, the rookie cornerback was targeted seven times and surrendered seven catches for 90 yards, according to Pro Football Focus.

Richardson really struggled against Quentin Johnston who caught six passes for 85 yards specifically against the Mississippi State product. That alone would have been the second-most productive game of the wide receiver’s season and third-best of his two-year career.

Obviously, there’s plenty of room for improvement with how the rookie finished his first campaign. So, let’s take a look at the tape and see where he can grow.

This first clip is a good example of where the rookie struggled against Johnston.

To Richardson’s credit, the Raiders are leaving him on an island by calling a three-deep/two-under fire zone and the pass-rush/blitz doesn’t hit home against max protection from the Chargers. So, the corner has to stay on top of the receiver and avoid getting beat deep.

However, Richardson struggles to sink his hips and get out of his break at the top of the route. That’s what prevents him from driving on the receiver and being in a position to deliver a hit or make a play on the ball/hands at the catch point.

Also, watch Johnston’s shoulders at the top of the route. He lifts them about three or four yards before making the cut, which should be an indicator for the cornerback to break down. Instead, Richardson is a little late to recognize the curl route and ends up allowing a first down.

To be fair, Los Angeles has a good play call against Las Vegas here. The offense motions into a two-by-two formation and runs a short curl with the tight end while the receiver runs a quick out route.

Since the defense is in Cover 3, the curl route keeps Divine Deablo from flying out into the flat and taking away the out route. The problem is if Deablo widens to the flat and tries to take Johnston away, Tre’von Moehrig is rolling down from a safety spot and isn’t in a position to cover the tight end. So, Justin Herbert would have just thrown the curl route and gotten as big of a gain.

Specifically looking at Richardson, there’s not much he can do since he’s bailing post-snap. However, he is still slow getting in and out of his break. It’s not as big of an issue as the rookie does converge on the receiver to prevent the first down, but sinking his hips and driving on routes is something the rookie can work on in the offseason.

Here is basically the same play, the routes are just reversed with the slot receiver running the out and Johnston running the curl.

Again, with the Raiders playing Cover 3 and Richardson bailing, the result of the rep is a byproduct of the play call from both sides. However, this is another example of Richardson being slow to get in and out of the break to drive on the route. Notice how he has to take a gather step out of his cut and doesn’t transition downhill until the ball has already reached the receiver.

This time, Richardson adjusts by staying home a little longer and not being so quick to bail post-snap since the Chargers were picking the Raiders apart with short routes. Also, while his transition isn’t perfect, he does a much better job of breaking on the ball.

However, the rookie does get a little lucky after the catch as he’s too high and misses on the tackle attempt. Moehrig cleans it up to prevent an explosive play, but this should have been Richardson’s tackle if he used better technique.

It’s third and five so the Raiders dial up a blitz with a six-man pressure and man coverage behind it. The Chargers counter by putting Ladd McConkey in motion to get the matchups they want with Kyu Blu Kelly on McConkey in the slot and Richardson against Johnson on the outside.

Both wideouts run short in routes and are open, Herbert just decides to go with the hot hand in Johnston. Again, Richardson just isn’t explosive enough out of his break to drive on the route and make a play on the ball. Also, he gets taken for a ride on the tackle attempt as Johnston could have had at least five yards after contact had Moehrig not cleaned it up.

We’ll end with the explosive 39-yard catch from Johnston.

What’s frustrating about this rep is Richardson has great coverage to stay in phase on the go route. And, to Herbert’s and Johnston’s credit, this is a beautiful throw and catch. So, the corner does have to tip his cap to the opponent and there isn’t much more he can do.

However, something that’s been an issue since the Mississippi State product’s college days is his lack of ball skills. With Richardson in a good position to cover the vertical route, he has two options: get his head around at the 40-yard line and locate the ball in the air, or keep his eyes on the receiver and rip hands at the catch point. The problem is he turns his head about five yards too late, and the ball is already there, so he can do neither.

Overall, Richardson’s performance wasn’t as bad as it seemed on paper, but he certainly has plenty of work to do to become a legitimate starting cornerback in the NFL.