Though the Raiders made it obvious that team speed is a factor with their first selection of the 2020 NFL draft, speed-burning wide receiver Henry Ruggs III, the team’s other first-round pick, cornerback Damon Arnette, ran a painfully slow 4.56-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine.
In a division with offensive playmakers such as the Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill, drafting a slow CB is enough to raise a few eyebrows, and not in a good way.
But in a bit of news that could make the selection of Arnette more palatable, Chris Carter, former NFL WR and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, claimed that Arnette dealt with injury at the NFL combine, explaining his poor time in the 40-yard-dash.
“He’s got better game speed than he showed at the combine,” Carter said, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Twitter account. “At the combine, he was dealing with a couple things. He had a hamstring and a back issue. I believe he runs a lot faster than that combine time.”
HOF WR @criscarter80 shares his insight on #19 overall pick and fellow Buckeye, CB @damon_arnette. #NFLDraft | @OhioStateFB pic.twitter.com/UHmntxD3hw
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) April 24, 2020
Carter and Arnette both played football at Ohio State, and it was Carter that convinced Arnette to remain in college an extra year after Arnette was set to enter the draft in 2019. He’s definitely in the position to have some inside information on the young CB.
Arnette will need every bit of speed he has to quiet his critics, perhaps most notably, Pro Football Focus. The publication claims that Arnette “does not in any way, shape or form fit the normal profile for a first-round cornerback.”
But he’ll have the first crack at the Raiders’ starting job opposite second-year CB, Trayvon Mullen. If Carter’s claim is true, that will help the Raiders’ chances on defense immensely as they head to their inaugural season in Las Vegas.
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