What condition the position is in: Assessing the Raiders need at safety

What condition the position is in: Assessing the Raiders need at safety

With free agency less than two weeks away, we check in on the Raiders’ safety position to give it a condition of either Strong, Stable, Unstable, Serious, or Critical.

Starters: Erik Harris, Johnathan Abram

Backups: Dallin Leavitt

Free agents: Karl Joseph, Curtis Riley

The opening day starters were former top pick Karl Joseph and first-round rookie Johnathan Abram. Then in the first game, Abram was lost for the season to a shoulder injury. Abram had shown a lot of promise in the offseason, being named the starter over Erik Harris late in OTA’s and looking fantastic in the preseason. He even looked good the rest of the season opener AFTER his injury, so there are high hopes for him.

Harris would step in for Abram for the rest of the season. No transition was necessary because Harris had started at that safety spot the latter part of the 2018 season and knew the defense quite well.

The duo of Joseph and Harris lasted until week ten when Joseph was lost for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Joseph’s injury made things much more complicated. Then they signed DJ Swearinger off the street and he had some decent play, but they didn’t feel like he was the best option, so they cut him after four games. Daryl Worley over to play some safety, but that only weakened the cornerback position. Finally, they just went with Curtis Riley, who routinely got smoked in the secondary.

Leavitt played almost exclusively on special teams but got a few defensive snaps late in the season while they were playing musical chairs at the position.

Condition: Unstable

Abram is said to be ready to return now, so he won’t miss any offseason work. Even with Joseph looking like he is going to be leaving in free agency, Harris has twice proven he is a worthy starter, so he and Abram should make for a good starting duo.

There have been reports the Raiders would be interested in Broncos safety Justin Simmons, but the Broncos are expected to keep him on the franchise tag. The Raiders interest, however, would suggest they are still looking at upgrading from Harris, though I don’t see it as an absolute necessity. What is a necessity is depth. I suppose upgrading the starting spot would move Harris back to a reserve role, which would be quality depth.

However it happens, they must add talent to the position. As we saw last season, injuries happen and they can’t let them get tripped up for lack of depth.

Also see the condition of QB, RB, WR, TE, OT, G, C, DI, ED, LB, CB  

[vertical-gallery id=62676]

[lawrence-newsletter]