The Raiders have reached the point in the season where the picture is getting clearer, and that makes the trade deadline a little easier to read. Through eight games, Las Vegas has a better sense of what this team is right now and what it might be going forward. With next week’s deadline coming fast, anything is still on the table.
The most obvious need remains in the defensive backfield. That was already the biggest weakness on the roster before the season, and the last month has only reinforced it. Las Vegas spent the offseason reshaping the team so thoroughly that the remaining holes are easier to spot, and cornerback stands out above the rest.
The young defensive backs have shown flashes at different points, especially early in the year, but the recent stretch has made the problem impossible to ignore. Kubiak spoke Monday about the corners the Raiders are rotating through.
“I think obviously Zeke [Hezekiah Masses] made some plays for us, had a big tip pass. Jermod [McCoy] in his first action.
He’s going to continue to get better, he’s got plenty of things to improve on, as does Zeke, as does DP [Darien Porter], as does everybody. But we feel like we’re going to continue to rotate those guys through," Kubiak said.
Sunday’s loss to the New York Jets drove the point home. If the Raiders do make a deal - and I do not think they will - cornerback would have to be the first place they look.
It wasn’t just the younger defensive backs who had issues. Every defensive back Las Vegas put on the field struggled.
Eric Stokes’ rough outing was especially hard to miss, and it only added to the urgency around the position. Kubiak pointed to the challenge of playing defensive back in the NFL and the way mistakes are magnified.
“I think the Jets had a really good plan overall, and I think again, when you play defensive back in the NFL, yeah, you’re going to get beat," Kubiak said.
"At some point you’re going to get beat, but how do you respond when that happens? And when a defensive back gets beat, everybody knows about it.
If a guard loses in the run game, it’s not discussed as much. So, you’ve got to have thick skin.
You’ve got to be able to move on to the next down."
If Las Vegas does decide to move a player, the list is short. The roster overhaul this offseason left the Raiders with fewer obvious trade candidates, and contracts narrow the field even more. Still, there are a couple of names that make sense, and they are already familiar ones in trade chatter.
Maxx Crosby and Jackson Powers-Johnson are the team’s most valuable assets heading into the deadline. Crosby has not generated much buzz recently, but that could change quickly the way things have this offseason.
Powers-Johnson is the more interesting case. The Raiders opened the season with him at guard, then moved to Caleb Rogers.
Against the Jets, they shifted again and replaced Rogers with Trey Zuhn after Rogers’ short run as the starter. It’s not clear how the staff feels about Zuhn at guard after what it saw Sunday.
If Zuhn gets another chance this week and performs well enough to convince the coaches he can hold the spot the rest of the way, Powers-Johnson could become even more available. His ability has never been the question.
He has been good enough to start for two different coaching staffs, but both times he ended up on the wrong side of the staff’s trust. That says plenty.
And if the Raiders can land a mid-round pick for him, that would be a win.
In Other News...
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Raiders Escaped With A Win But Their Secondary Has A New Problem
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Eric Stokes was at the center of it, as the Jets kept testing the cornerback and found enough success to keep their offense moving. He was not the only one having a rough day in the back end, either, with other Raiders defenders also struggling to slow down New York's passing game. The victory matters in the standings, but the tape will give this coaching staff plenty to sort through before the next game. [Read more 🡒]