Over the last two offseasons, the Raiders have completely rebuilt their secondary. Gone are former first-round picks Gareon Conley and Karl Joseph as well as Daryl Worley. For Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden, the goal was to get more athletic and versatile on the back end of their defense.
They have seemingly accomplished that at the safety position as the team signed veterans Damarious Randall and Jeff Heath this offseason. Mayock, in particular, seems excited about the idea of pairing Randall with 2019 first-round pick Johnathan Abram as he believes they can be a fantastic pairing with one another:
“What I believe is that (Randall) could be a wonderful complement to John Abram. We’re going to pair [Abram] with Damarious and Erik Harris, and we think Damarious can bring some athletic ability where he can drop down and cover the slot. So, we think there’s a potential pairing there that could be exciting, but don’t forget about Erik Harris, he’s played some good football for us.”
It’s worth noting that when Mike Mayock worked for NFL Network, he had Randall as his No. 1 safety in the 2015 draft, ahead of the likes of Landon Collins and Quinten Rollins. Randall was one of his favorite players in the draft due to his ability to play cornerback and safety.
Ideally, the Raiders would like to keep Abram close to the line of scrimmage in a pseudo linebacker role where he can run to the football. This should allow him the freedom to blitz and be the team’s “enforcer” in the middle of the field.
That will likely leave Randall as the team’s centerfielder and that is a spot in which he has thrived throughout his career. There is also a good chance that defensive coordinator Paul Guenther will use a lot of three-safety looks with Erik Harris on the field a lot, as well.
The Raiders finally have a safety unit that “fits” right and they now have adequate depth to rotate players in for every game situation. However, look for Randall and Abram to get the most snaps as they are two of the most talented players on defense. Together, they should form one of the better safety duos in all of the NFL.
