Nate Hobbs – Page 7 – Syndication Server

Raiders place CB Brandon Facyson on reserve/COVID-19 list following matchup with Browns

CB Brandon Facyson joins Nate Hobbs on reserve/COVID-19 list as Raiders set to face rival Broncos

Three teams this past weekend were riddled with positive COVID-19 tests. One of those teams was the Browns, who the Raiders faced on Monday. That game was originally on Saturday, but postponed in the hopes all the possible positive tests would be revealed.

As of yet, no additional Browns players have been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. But an additional Raiders player has.

CB Brandon Facyson has headed to the reserve/COVID-19 list. He joins fellow cornerback Nate Hobbs who landed on the list the day of the Browns game, ruling him out.

Hobbs was replaced by Keisean Nixon while Facyson was replacing Trayvon Mullen who was placed in injured reserve last week.

Facyson is vaccinated, which means, per the protocol, he will need to test each day and should he test negative twice on consecutive days leading up to the team’s game on Sunday against the Broncos, he’ll be cleared to play. If not, the Raiders will be down to their third option at outside corner and possibly again without Hobbs as well.

Raiders lose CB Nate Hobbs to reserve/COVID-19 list while Browns get several players back

Just hours before kickoff, #Raiders lose CB Nate Hobbs to reserve/COVID-19 list. Meanwhile the #Browns have gotten a few players back.

We are just hours from kickoff between the Raiders and Browns for their Monday afternoon game and the Raiders will be without one of their best defenders. Rookie nickel cornerback Nate Hobbs has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list making him unavailable for the game.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but the Brown suffered a rash of COVID-19 cases, causing the league to move the game to Monday. The purpose being to make sure all the Browns players who could have COVID but had not tested positive yet.

One additional Browns player did land on the reserve/COVID-19 list since that time with defensive end Jadeveon Clowney now unavailable for the game.

Alternatively, there are several players who have tested out of the protocol and will be available for the game who would not have been had the game occurred on Saturday.

S John Johnson III, G Wyatt Teller, and Takkarist McKinley have come off the reserve/COVID-19 list over the past few days. In addition, WR Anthony Schwartz (concussion) — who was ruled OUT on the initial injury report — and was upgraded to questionable on Saturday’s injury report, making it possible the he could play as well.

There are still a lot of Browns players who will not take the field today — 19 to be exact. Among them are starting QB Baker Mayfield and backup QB Case Keenum. Leaving third string QB Nick Mullens to start.

Other starters to miss the game include top receiver Jarvis Landry, tight end Austin Hooper, left tackle Jedrick Wills, safety Ronnie Harrison, DT Malik McDowell, and S Grant Delpit.

Raiders lose CB Nate Hobbs to COVID-19 list Monday

While the Browns got a few players back due to the postponement, the Raiders just lost one of their top defenders just before the game due to COVID-19:

The Cleveland Browns got a few players back in between when their game with the Las Vegas Raiders was supposed to be played on today, Monday, when the game was postponed until. The Browns have Wyatt Teller, John Johnson III and Takk McKinley activated since Saturday.

They also could have Anthony Schwartz back after he had more time to clear concussion protocol.

The Raiders, on the other hand, just lost an important player who would have been available for Saturday’s game. Cornerback Nate Hobbs, who has played very well in the slot, tested positive for COVID-19 and was placed on Las Vegas’ reserve list.

When their Week 15 game was postponed, Raiders players, in particular K.J. Wright, pushed back against the decision. Wright noted that the league played favoritism toward the Browns. Las Vegas’ owner took an even stronger stance related to competitive advantage and suggested the game be moved to their home city.

The loss of Hobbs is a disadvantage for the Raiders who barely cling to playoff hopes. Pro Football Focus has Hobbs as the team’s second-best defender behind Maxx Crosby.

Hobbs is the only player listed on Las Vegas’ reserve/COVID-19 list at this time.

‘We got something’: Mike Mayock tells story behind Raiders discovery of CB Nate Hobbs

The standout among the Raiders rookies this year has been fifth round cornerback Nate Hobbs. His quick emergence has made more than a few people wonder how he fell to the fifth round, how they missed him, and how the Raiders got him.

Raiders GM Mike Mayock was asked about Nate Hobbs and he responded by telling a long story of how they discovered and ultimately drafted Hobbs. It offers an inside look into how the longtime draft guru has gone about his draft work since taking over as Raiders GM and how the Raiders organization functions in terms of drafting players.

“I got a call from one of our cross check scouts after the Illinois pro day,” Mayock began his story. “And he said ‘Mike, do me a favor, put your eyes on Nate Hobbs. He just ran 4.45, he jumps 41 inches, he tested better than we thought he would test and I’m not sure if we’ve got the right grade on him. Don’t get me wrong, we had a pretty solid grade on him, but I want to make sure he’s not getting lost in the cornerback shuffle.’

“So, I get off the phone and I literally put his tape on right there. And I’m like, man…he competes, he tackles, he’s tough, he’s a three-year starter in the Big-Ten, he was an outside corner almost predominantly. And he played special teams. And this was a hard-nosed, tough guy. And he just ran 4.45 and jumped 41 inches.

“So, I literally got out of my chair — I spent about two hours watching him — I got out of my chair, sprinted downstairs to the second floor, grabbed Ron Milus the defensive back coach…and, again, every building is different. Trust me, I spent 18 years at NFL Network being in all the buildings and everyone does their jobs differently. We’re a coach-driven building. With our scouts. So, I run downstairs and say ‘Milo, get your eyes on this guy, please. Tell me what you think, today.’ He comes running back up in an hour and a half and says ‘we got something,’ He said ‘I think this kid will compete at nickel.’

“He was an outside guy and the reason we thought he could compete at nickel was how tough he was. His quickness and his toughness. He rarely missed tackles. Very aggressive kid. So, when you talk about moving outside to inside, that’s what you’re looking for. And you got to be a quick processor, which we can’t tell whether he was or not as an outside corner, but you better be quick and you better be tough. And he was those things.

“So, all of the sudden we push him up the board a little bit more. The coaches like him, the scouts like him, we got him on a zoom call. And he knocked it out of the park. And what the coaches do is they challenge him pretty hard. They give him some of our Raider verbiage and they push it out and challenge it back. And he got all the concepts immediately.

“I was on the zoom call, it wasn’t like I heard about it, I was on the call. He got all the concepts, the coaches drilled him, he got an A+ on that drill and we’re sitting back and going ‘what’s wrong with this picture?’ Three-year starter in the Big-Ten, tough, competitive, every one of our scouting grades on him was that he competes and toughness at a high end.

“So, I think the cool part for me is seeing it come together. It started with the trigger from the cross-checker telling me to get my eye on him. It went from there down to Milo and then it went to the zoom call, and then it was the whole group getting together saying we got to get this guy. Where’s he probably going to go league value and at what point do we have to pull the trigger.”

This seems to be the blueprint for uncovering day three gems. Players like Maxx Crosby (4th round), Foster Moreau (4th round), Hunter Renfrow (5th round), and Hobbs (5th round). It’s the primary reason Mayock is here. Teams are built through the draft and primarily finding talent up and down the draft, not just in the first couple rounds.

Hobbs in particular looks like a real find. He had practically won the starting nickel corner job by the end of camp and locked it down in the second preseason game when he earned a game ball. They sat him for the final preseason game while several other rookies drafted ahead of him still played in the game.

Raiders move CB Amik Robertson outside after failed nickel corner experiment

As of Saturday night, after the Raiders’ second preseason game against the Rams, Nate Hobbs had intercepted and ran away with the Raiders’ nickel corner job. With Nevin Lawson suspended for the first two games, Hobbs’s primary competition coming into camp was second-year man Amik Robertson. Not anymore.

Hobbs took home the game ball Saturday night while Robertson made a couple nice plays at outside cornerback. Head coach Jon Gruden has seen enough.

“[Amik Robertson] is a guy last year we tried to make a nickel corner and that’s a hard position as you know in this league with all the Jet Sweeps,” said Gruden Wednesday. “If that Jet Sweep starts on the right and jets to the left, there’s a good chance, you gotta bump into the box and be a linebacker. And I think Amik looked at that a little bit differently when [Richie] Incognito was blocking him in the box. But now as an outside corner, you see what he is. You can see the skillset that he has. He’s played better, he’s gotten more confidence. Not that he can’t be a nickel because he has worked in there, but he’s clearly at home on the outside.”

Robertson barely saw the field his rookie season as a fourth round project. Then Hobbs comes in as a fifth round rookie and quickly showed a feel for the position, both in coverage and as a tackler.

The question now becomes whether Robertson would still be the next man up behind Hobbs at nickel for the first two games while Lawson serves his suspension? Or could the Raiders tap Damon Arnette for those duties after seeing his starting job on the outside usurped by veteran Casey Hayward? Plenty of moving pieces that’s for sure.

Raiders rookie CB Nate Hobbs ‘It factor’ earns him game ball

Raiders rookie CB Nate Hobbs ‘It factor’ earns him game ball, starting nickel job to open season

The final player to step behind the podium following the Raiders 17-16 preseason win over the Rams was rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs. The fifth-rounder had all but locked up the starting nickel job to begin this season and he intercepted and ran away with it in this game. Literally.

Hobbs had a phenomenal game in LA which came on the heels of a standout performance in the preseason opener as well. Jon Gruden said Hobbs has even surpassed his expectations when they drafted him out of Illinois.

“I’m really proud of him. I’m really excited to see what he does in his future,” Gruden said of Hobbs. “We tried to summarize him a couple of days ago. He has the ‘it’ factor, he rarely makes the same mistake twice, he loves football, and he eats it up. He’s one of the energizers of our defense. He’s walked in here and given us a lot of skills that we can utilize certainly.”

This performance earned Hobbs a game ball, which Gruden said was something he doesn’t typically give out for preseason games.

I passed Hobbs on the way out of the press conference room and the young corner had not one, but two footballs in his possession. One was his game ball, the other was the ball he intercepted. Quite the haul for the quiet, young fifth-round rookie.

Hobbs got the interception through no accident. After having played the slot through the first half, he was moved to outside corner to see how he fared. On his third snap, the Rams tested him. He passed. With flying colors. He diagnosed the play, watched the quarterback, and tracked the ball on a deep post pattern to pick it clean.

“I just shuffled, I saw one sit down and two kept going up the seam, so I just climbed,” Hobbs recalled of the play. “I don’t even think it’s in the playbook, but I was just trying to be a football player and I saw the ball come out of the quarterback’s hands and ran to the receiver and looked up and the ball was there.”

That play wasn’t out of nowhere either. He had two nice tackles on the Rams’ first drive, including one on third down to force a punt. And later he had a pass breakup as well. And this performance was after he had a hard sack on Seahawks QB Geno Smith in the preseason opener and had held his own in the scrimmages with the Rams this week as well. Prompting Josh Jacobs to gush about him.

“I love that dude,” Jacobs said of Hobbs this week. “So, he’ll be right next to me all the time in the locker room, he’s not too far. But I love him. I love his energy, I just love the way he plays the game. He has that never-quit attitude, wanting to be a better player and he flies around. You can see the confidence in his game. I just try to talk to him every chance I get, tell him he’s doing a good job and just to keep stacking days. So, I’m excited to see it.”

Hobbs simply shows a level of play and understanding you don’t expect from a rookie, let alone a fifth-round pick. Particularly the part about not making the same mistake twice.

“I feel like it’s trying to be a pro at what I do. If I’m professional, I can’t keep making the same mistakes,” Hobbs said. “At the end of the day, this is something that they trusted me to do and they’re paying me to do it, so I feel like I’m a pro I shouldn’t make the same mistakes. You’re going to make mistakes, I’m a rookie, and I’m a football player. You’re gonna make mistakes in the game, just don’t let it be the same one. So, I just try to go about it that way.”

Through much of camp, Nevin Lawson has been pegged as the starter at the nickel spot. Leaving the competition seemingly between Hobbs and Amik Robertson. But Hobbs has now put some distance between him and Robertson in that competition. And even if Lawson is still currently seen as the starter — which he may not be at this point — he’s suspended the first two games.

Last week Gruden said Hobbs “may be the opening day starter for us.” Tonight he put Hobbs in the same sentence as second-round rookie Tre’von Moehrig who has been pegged as the full-time starting free safety since the moment they drafted him. Which is to say Hobbs has earned the starting job for the season opener and perhaps beyond. If he can play like this in the regular season, how do you even consider taking him out?

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Raiders DC Gus Bradley on who has ‘jumped out’ at nickel cornerback

As we work our way through the offseason, the roles begin to become clearer. One position that has come into question this offseason has been who will step in at nickel corner to replace the departed Lamarcus Joyner.

New defensive coordinator Gus Bradley offered some clarity on the[lawrence-newsletter] competition at the position.

“Right now there’s a lot that we put on that plate. At the nickel spot there’s a lot of guys that we rotate in there,” Bradley said. “Guys like [Nevin] Lawson has really jumped out. I think he’s a guy that has picked up really well on it. Amik [Robertson] has been playing in there. He’s done a nice job on the inside. The guy that’s probably really jumped out is [Nate] Hobbs; the kid from Illinois. I’ve been very impressed with him. He has a real good knowledge of the position. He has a learning curve and he’s really jumped out.”

Lawson is the veteran of the group. He is entering his third season with the team, having played mostly as an outside corner in dime packages. He may be lining up with the first team at the moment, but come the start of the regular season, someone else will have to step up because Lawson is suspended for the first two games for a PED violation.

Robertson was a fourth-round pick by the Raiders last year. They tried to transition him from outside to inside, but that transition has taken a bit longer than they’d hoped, so he’s getting another crack at it this year.

Hobbs was selected in the fifth round of this year’s draft. His best shot at getting on the field early is at the nickel spot and it sounds like he’s further along than Robertson was for training camp last year.

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Mock draft watch: Breaking down the Browns haul in The Athletic’s 7-rounder

One of the most respected and veteran NFL draft analysts, Dane Brugler of The Athletic, released his 7-round mock for all the picks in the 2021 NFL draft. Brugler’s projections for the Cleveland Browns and their cadre of picks offer some interesting players.

The first-round choice at No. 26 is Northwestern CB Greg Newsome, who has been a familiar fixture in Browns mock drafts. Newsome has some durability concerns but he’s an excellent cover corner who could start right away on the outside.

The next two picks go on defense as well, with Houston EDGE Payton Turner and North Carolina State DT Alim McNeil. Both are impressive talents who would represent solid value where the Browns take them in the second and third rounds, respectively. Turner makes a lot of sense as a pass rushing threat who can develop more on his own pace now that the Browns have added free agent veteran Jadeveon Clowney.

The remaining picks are all players who would compete to make the final roster. That’s more a reflection on the strength of the Browns current depth chart than anything negative about the players listed. Of note, Auburn WR Anthony Schwartz in the fourth round would be a direct competitor for last year’s rookie, Donovan Peoples-Jones, as the field-stretching outside vertical wideout.

McGrone and Forrest are prospects who could benefit from a year of practice and development before being thrust onto the field. Borom would join a crowd of reserve interior offensive linemen, while Hobbs is a smart seventh-round value as a speedy cornerback who is oddly proficient at tackling.

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