Raiders defense: Decamerion Richardson growing pains on full display

Las Vegas rookie cornerback should be disappointed by Week 12 performance but encouraged going forward

Even coming from a competitive collegiate conference like the SEC, Decamerion Richardson was always expected to have growing pains.

An ultra-athletic cornerback prospect from Mississippi State, the Las Vegas Raiders selected Richardson in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft (112th overall) as the 23-year-old possessed the ideal traits of a tall, long, and fast defender that was a throwback to the old-school Silver & Black.

Measuring in at 6-foot-2 and 188 pounds at the NFL Combine, Richardson clocked a 4.34 40-yard dash at the event and showcased arms over 32-inches long highlighting the athleticism-size that put him amongst the best in the class in that regard.

Yet the cornerback entered the pros raw in terms of coverage skills and, with the Raiders cornerback room decimated by injury, we’re seeing it on full display as Richardson played in 97 and 100 percent of the defensive snaps in Las Vegas’ Week 11 and 12 defeats the past two Sundays.

As with a lot of draft picks, there’s a transition time from the college game to the pros and while Richardson possesses the athleticism and physical traits that are tantalizing, we’re seeing a natural delay in the young cornerback’s processing skills — read and react, namely.

Against the Denver Broncos this past Sunday, the much more experienced and bigger Courtland Sutton had his way with the Raiders’ rookie. At 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, the Broncos wide receiver is a challenge for any defensive back but Richardson physically had matchup potential at 6-2 and 195 pounds. But the veteran wideout who is in his seventh season in the league rightfully took full advantage of the neophyte cornerback’s inexperience hauling in eight of the 10 targets going his way for 97 yards and two touchdowns.

Sutton turned Richardson inside out in coverage and the Raiders. On the touchdown the wide receiver scored on the cornerback, Sutton took advantage of linebacker Robert Spillane being in the vicinity (due to running back and wide receiver going across the formation) and to impede Richardson’s path and dusted the rookie. Richardson sprinted to keep up with the wide receiver but Sutton hauled in the dart of a touchdown pass from rookie quarterback Bo Nix.

Richardson is right to be frustrated with is performance.

But the rookie should also be very encouraged. While he did get beat routinely by a veteran wide receiver, the painful lessons can be turned into prime film work (teach tape) for improvement going forward. That can be an invaluable tool towards improvement.

Short-term memory is vital for a cornerback’s livelihood. And not only that, but Richardson has a teammate who went from bad rookie season to locked in, in Year 2 — Jakorian Bennett (who is one of the injured starters necessitating Richardson starting games).

According to Las Vegas defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Richardson is a quick study and rebounds from miscues. And we’ll see if the rookie can do so going forward.

“And of course he’s a rookie, and he’s got a lot of things to learn, but the one thing that’s positive about him, he usually corrects a mistake,” Graham said before the matchup with the Broncos. “So, he might make it once or twice, but then usually it’s off the plate, and he’s corrected it, and then it just comes down to execution.”

“Most corners that get to this level, they have to have a short memory, because at some point in your career, whether it’s Pop Warner, high school or college, you’re going to get bombed on at some point,” Graham added regarding Richardson. “But he has a lot of confidence. I believe it comes from his prep.”

Richardson and the rest of the Raiders’ defensive backs have no choice but to learn, rebound, and execute going forward. Injuries have forced young players to step up and as Graham noted, it doesn’t get any easier as Las Vegas approaches its final six games of the 2024 campaign. First of which is the Friday post-holiday matchup with the AFC West dominating and defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs (10-1 overall).

“They competed, just like we’re going to have to do this week. It doesn’t get any easier this week with the guys that you have in Kansas City and the quarterback and the scheme they have there,” Graham said during his Tuesday media availability. “But they went out there, they competed. It just didn’t fall the way we wanted it to fall. But they went out there and competed. I love their toughness. I love their toughness and they’re willing to go on to the next play. I’m happy about that. And then we’ve just got to keep getting better every day.”

Head coach Antonio Pierce expressed similar sentiments on Richardson and other young defenders.

“Defensively, D-Cam (Decamerion Richardson), he’ll learn from yesterday, first start and opportunities there,” Pierce began. “And Isaiah (Pola-Mao), there’s a lot of young players, Tyree Wilson the last couple weeks. So, listen, there’s not a lot of positives at 2-9, but you do see a lot of players playing their asses off and playing hard and fighting to the very end. So, that is a positive for our team.”

Series History: The Black Friday matchup will be the 132nd time the Raiders and Chiefs play one another. Kansas City leads the overall series 74-55-2. The two teams meet inside Allegiant Stadium back in Week 8 with the Chiefs rolling to a 27-20 victory that was 27-13 before the Raiders scored with 2:03 left. Kansas City was on a six-game series win streak before Las Vegas’ Christmas Day win in Arrowhead in 2023.

Quote of Note:

“Yeah, for sure. I mean he had 10 targets, and they did. I mean, we were still trying to get it to him, even with (Pat) Surtain on him. They put Surtain a lot, and things like that going to happen. We can move him (Brock Bowers) around a little bit more. We have moved him around, and we can do more of that. The one thing though that happens, it was good to see, you got a guy in Jakobi (Meyers), had 121 yards and Tuck (Tre Tucker) had 82. So those guys stepping up when they’re putting a lot of focus on Brock (Bowers), that helps everybody. That helps Brock going forward, but also just our offense moving the ball.” —Las Vegas Raiders interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner on getting the ball to rookie tight end Brock Bowers and balance with other pass catchers