Believe it or not, there aren’t many starting jobs that are available for the Raiders heading into the season. There is some shuffling that could happen at receiver, but for the most part, the offense is set.
On the other side of the ball, the Raiders plan on rotating a ton of different players on the field, but the starters are mostly intact there, as well. However, there is one job that could be up for grabs and that is at cornerback.
Heading into camp, it was assumed that veteran Prince Amukamara would be the team’s starting cornerback with Travyon Mullen. But after a strong start to training camp, first-round pick Damon Arnette appears to be ready to challenge Amukamara for that job.
In a recent article by Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus, the battle between Amukamara and Arnette was the team’s biggest starting spot up in the air. Here is a snippet of what Linsey had to say about the fight for the No. 2 cornerback job for the Raiders:
“It doesn’t appear as if (Damon) Arnette is simply going to hand (Prince) Amukamara that job opposite Mullen — a promising development for the Raiders after many thought they overdrafted Arnette midway through the first round. There is even a feeling starting to build now that it’s Arnette’s job to lose. Arnette earned 70.0-plus PFF coverage grades in each of the past three seasons with Ohio State.”
Ideally, the Raiders would love for Arnette to win that job, proving they made the right decision with the No. 19 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. But Amukamara’s experience and consistency might be the better option to start the season.
But the big takeaway here should be how impressive Arnette has been during camp. He will surely play this season and the Raiders have to be thrilled with him in camp so far. Look for this battle opposite of Mullen to continue in camp and throughout the regular season for the Raiders.
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