The Las Vegas Raiders have a truly open competition at cornerback, and Hezekiah Masses could wind up winning a spot.
Many NFL teams have positional battles in minicamp and training camp that really aren’t that, but that’s not the Las Vegas Raiders. They’re doing a serious roster rebuild, and there are enough holes that many late-round draft picks and undrafted free agents have a serious chance to make the team’s roster.
Count Hezekiah Masses among them. According to the latest report from Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, the fifth-round draft pick is making a strong early impression.
He definitely has company and competition. The Raiders secondary struggled so badly that the team drafted four defensive backs, and at least two of them have a viable chance to start, with Treydan Stukes being another one.
Masses is competing with last year’s cornerback, Darien Porter, who was drafted in the third round and started ten games last year. Porter was among those who struggled, however, as he often got lost on assignments, which was understandable given that he only started at corner in one season in college. Several of the early quotes from coaches had him still learning some of the positional nuances, so this is almost certainly an open competition.
Masses looked good, according to minicamp reports. He played three seasons of college football at FIU before transferring to Cal last year, where he made first-team ACC, according to Smith.
The other two cornerbacks have a different situation entirely. Jermod McCoy was the prize pick out of Tennessee, as the Raiders selected him in the fourth round.
McCoy reportedly has first-round talent, but he fell to the Raiders due to medical issues with his knee. According to those reports, he could be ready to play this year, but he also has to be handled with care because any subsequent knee injury would likely be a career-ender. Dalton Johnson is the other candidate, but he hasn’t been mentioned as being in the mix so far.
Masses is in the mix becaause he’s been very aggressive in coverage, according to nearly every report that came out of minicamp. That fits the goal of new defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, who wants to build an attacking defense, although rookie quarterbacks with Masses’ level of aggression often make costly mistakes.
The only cornerback who’s locked in as a starter is Eric Stokes, who bet on himself last year and had a good enough season to earn an extension. He’s not considered a shutdown corner by any means, but he is a quality DB who represents first building block for a secondary that needs to improve.
