Film room: Richardson makes most of first major opportunity

Rookie cornerback had a nice performance on Sunday against the Bengals.

We’ve reached a point in the Las Vegas Raiders’ season where it’s time to pay less attention to what the scoreboard says at the end of the game and focus on how the young players on the roster are performing.

So, while the Raiders suffered another defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9, rookie cornerback Decamerion Richardson’s performance provided some encouragement for Las Vegas.

After battling injuries to begin the regular season, this past Sunday was the first time Richardson received double-digit defensive snaps and he made the most of the opportunity. According to Pro Football Focus, he participated in 28 plays (10 against the run and 18 in coverage) and was targeted twice but didn’t allow a catch while picking up a forced incompletion.

That earned the Mississippi State product a solid 67.0 coverage grade from PFF, so let’s dive into the film and breakdown the rookie’s performance.

While Richardson doesn’t get involved in the tackle in the clip above, this is an encouraging rep from him.

Defending the run was a potential weakness for him coming out of college given his slender frame. However, he does a great job of being physical and getting off the wide receiver’s block to be in a position to make the tackle had the front seven not made the play.

The rookie had a couple of encouraging reps as a run defender to show some potential in that area of his game.

More importantly, the former Bulldog had an impressive day in coverage as the numbers above suggest.

Here he’s lined up in press man coverage against three-time Pro Bowler Ja’Marr Chase. Richardson does a good job of using his hands and jamming Chase to disrupt the timing of the route. Meanwhile, watch Joe Burrow’s eyes as he looks to Chase for his first read but comes off of it since the receiver struggles to create separation.

Especially against single-high coverage, Burrow loves to throw the ball up to Chase when the receiver is one-on-one. However, Burrow opted to turn that down this time due to the coverage.

Also, while the wideout gets a step of separation when breaking on the out-and-up route, Richardson has more than enough makeup speed to get back in phase and be in a position to make a play on the ball had the pass come his way.

So, that’s a pretty good rep against a double-move from some elite competition.

Richardson is in man coverage again but lined up as a slot corner and against a tight end, Mike Gesicki, this time.

With the inside release from No. 80 (second wide receiver from the bottom of the screen) the Bengals nearly had an easy completion to Gesicki on the out route and Gesicki would have had plenty of room after the catch to pick up the first down. However, Richardson recognizes the natural pick and avoids it to stay attached to his man.

Then, Burrow starts to scramble so Gesicki works up the field. The corner is able to stay in phase on the scramble drill and finishes the rep by getting into the tight end’s body at the catch point and forcing the tight end out of bounds to prevent the completion.

So, we’re seeing some versatility from Richardson in his ability to cover from a different alignment and a bigger pass-catcher.

Las Vegas is in Cover 3 this time and Richardson gets a go route from the outside receiver. He does a good job of staying on top of the route initially, but I would like to see him try to make a play on the ball in the air rather than turn to rip hands at the catch point. That’s the reason why he loses a step at the top of the route.

That being said, the rookie recovers well by using his hands and the back of the endzone as his friend, helping force the receiver out of bounds to create an incompletion.

Ball skills were one of Richarsdon’s weaknesses in college, so he might not have the confidence to play the ball in the air at this point. While there is some room for improvement, I can appreciate the fact that he plays to his strengths and still creates a positive play for the defense.

Hopefully, we get to see more reps from the fourth-round pick for the rest of the season and he has a bright future if he can build off this past Sunday’s performance.