One of the most underrated defensive players for the Raiders has been cornerback Nevin Lawson. With injuries all over the secondary, Lawson has become an important player this season for Las Vegas. He’s played nearly 70 percent of the defensive snaps this season with both Trayvon Mullen and Damon Arnette missing time.
While Lawson’s play has been up and down at times this season, it is what you would expect from the team’s No. 4 cornerback. What don’t expect is elite, shutdown performances in which a backup cornerback doesn’t allow a single yard in coverage. But that is exactly what Lawson against Denver last week.
In a recent article by Anthony Treash of Pro Football Focus, he named the top performers at every position in Week 10. Derek Carr made the list at quarterback while Lawson was the site’s top-graded cornerback of Week 10. Here is a snippet of what Treash and the site had to say about Lawson against the Broncos:
“(Lawson) had the best performance of his entire NFL career. For the very first time, Lawson earned a single-game coverage grade above 90.0. He put on the clamps when manning the outside, allowing zero yards on 20 coverage snaps and raising his coverage grade to 92.3 on such plays.”
With Arnette back into the lineup, Lawson will likely see a decrease in snaps going forward. But his play over the last few weeks should make the Raiders’ coaching staff feel great about their depth going forward. If another young player in Isaiah Johnson can continue to make strides, the Raiders have a lot to be excited about in their secondary.
Lawson and company will surely be tested in Week 11 as they will take on the Kansas City Chiefs in a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football.
