2nd-year pro has been building on a strong performance in the spring during training camp
Second-year pro Jakorian Bennett had a strong showing during the Las Vegas Raiders’ spring practices and reportedly took the majority of the first-team reps. That made Bennett the favorite to win the Raiders’ open competition for a starting cornerback spot heading into training camp. About a week into camp, it sounds like the 2023 fourth-round pick has picked up right where he left off.
“The club is impressed with Jakorian Bennett, a second-year cornerback from Maryland who is making big strides and turning the heads of the coaching staff and his teammates,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore wrote. Bonsignore also noted that the corner has been able to get a few tipped passes, one that led to an interception for safety Tre’von Moehrig.
However, this isn’t unfamiliar territory for Bennett. He was a standout at this time last year and was one of the Raiders’ starting Week 1 cornerbacks until a string of mental mistakes, poor play and injuries led to him getting benched. The good news is Bennett has already shown some growth from his rookie season, according to head coach Antonio Pierce.
“You know what, because he had a rough rookie year, right?” Pierce said. “He started, played some games, got nicked up. Then he’s on the bench, some other guys come in. So, you go through those ups and downs as a rookie and I think he’s really done a great job this year just mentally preparing himself of, ‘Hey, whatever it is, I have to deal with it.’ And when you get the opportunity to make plays, make those plays.
“He had a great two plays yesterday tipping the ball, one was an interception, but just overall his confidence is slowly building and growing. And I just think that that room overall with Jack [Jones] and Nate [Hobbs] in there and [Brandon] Facyson, they’re doing a good job of mentoring him.”
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
To reinforce the head coach’s statement, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham had similar comments about what he’s seen from the second-year pro so far this season.
“You’re seeing a young player mature in terms of his approach,” Graham explained. “And he’s determined because he’s an NFL football player. These are young men that made decisions when they were young to try to get to this level and he’s been determined all his life. I would assume it would be like that in any other walk that he decides to do after football. But he’s just focused.”
What also speaks to the focus or attention to detail that Graham refers to is Bonsignore’s observation in the column referenced above that Bennett has managed to cut down on the mental mistakes that plagued him a year ago. More experience and playing in the same system back-to-back seasons will help with that.
But it isn’t just the coaching staff that is signing Bennett’s praises as starting safety Marcus Epps had good things to say about his teammate as well.
“He’s been doing a great job,” Epps said of Bennett, “even since last year when he first got here. Came into camp [as a] young guy, had a lot of confidence and was doing very well. [I’ve] seen a lot of things in him, and his rookie year might not have gone the way he wanted to, but I feel like he’s got his confidence back.
“He worked really hard this offseason and it’s really showing out here. So I’m really proud of him and how far he’s come. I feel like he can really be an elite corner in this league.”
That’s high praise from a six-year veteran who knows a thing or two about good cornerback play after sharing secondaries with former All-Pros Xavier Rhodes and Darius Slay.
It’s still early in training camp and a lot can happen between now and September, but Bennett is trending toward winning the Raiders’ starting cornerback competition. It’s just a matter of how long he can keep the job this time around.