Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jakorian Bennett (0) and cornerback Nate Hobbs (39) celebrate a defensive play during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Allegiant Stadium Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023.
Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024 | 2 a.m.
COSTA MESA, Calif. — The music amplified, the offense huddled and Jakorian Bennett bounced.
The Raiders’ second-year cornerback then began hyping up his defensive teammates as they prepared for an 11-on-11 period against the starting offense Wednesday morning at the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex. As the offense broke the huddle and headed toward the line of scrimmage, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Bennett gave edge rusher Maxx Crosby a shove for his final show of motivation.
It felt like a role reversal as Crosby is usually the one to juice up his teammates before drills.
“Overall, his confidence is slowly building and growing,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said of Bennett earlier in training camp.
The Raiders’ most prominent offensive potential battle may have little clarity through six practices — though Gardner Minshew did outplay Aidan O’Connell at quarterback Wednesday — but the top defensive one has developed a definite frontrunner.
Bennett appears to have seized control of the No. 2 cornerback job opposite of Jack Jones at the other outside spot and Nate Hobbs inside at slot.
He’s taken virtually all the snaps with the first-team unit over the last three practices, and responded by having several pass deflections, tackles and an interception.
“You see it so much to where it slows down (with) the experience” Bennett said when asked about what’s enabled his strong play. “With me, once it slowed down, I could be who I am and just do what I do at the end of the day. It’s been a fun camp for sure.”
Bennett was no slouch during last year’s camp either after being taken in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Maryland. He somewhat surprisingly won a starting cornerback role as a rookie over a collection of veterans with then-coach Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham thinking he could be a key part of a bounce-back defensive season.
That didn’t happen.
Bennett started the Raiders’ first four games but looked overmatched and graded out as one of the worst cornerbacks in the league — finishing the season No. 124 out of 129 qualified players by Pro Football Focus. He suffered a pair of injuries — hamstring and shoulder — and never returned to the starting lineup.
Las Vegas’ defense did eventually hit its potential as one of the better units in the league, but it was with the likes of Jones and Amik Robertson (now with the Detroit Lions) holding down the outside cornerback spots.
“He had a rough rookie year,” Pierce said of Bennett. “He started here, played some games, got nicked up. Then he’s on the bench, some other guys come in, so you just go through ups and downs as a rookie. I think he’s done a really great job this year just mentally preparing himself of, ‘Hey, whatever it is, I have to deal with it.’”
Bennett takes exception to any suggestion that he lost confidence in his rookie season, but does say that he prepared himself more mentally coming into this year and feels like he’s in a better place.
“Just be who I am, never forget that,” he said. “I’ve been through so much from only starting one year in high school to going (to junior college) to playing at Maryland. A lot of people counted me out, but at the end of the day, I can’t forget where I came from, how far I came. At the end of the day, I’m here for a reason so I’m going to continue to strive for excellence and be the best version of myself.”
Bennett treated his first NFL offseason more like a seasoned veteran than the typical rookie. He decided to hunker down in Las Vegas instead of heading home to Mobile, Ala., or Maryland.
The decision to stay local allowed him to become a fixture at the Raiders’ team headquarters in Henderson and at IVI Performance alongside the number of pros training under Deon Hodges.
Teammates noticed his diligence and have praised him as one of the hardest-working members of the team.
“I don’t like how the media attack JB,” Hobbs said. “I’m going to say right now: JB is going to be really pivotal for us. … He’s a great player — he’s young but he’s got a drive you don’t see in people his age.”
The 23-year-old Bennett’s ascension to first-team cornerback during training camp hasn’t been all his doing though. The 29-year-old Brandon Facyson was seen as his main competition and actually took more of the starting snaps in OTAs and minicamp but has since come down with an undisclosed injury and missed three straight practices.
Facyson could conceivably get back in the race though Pierce ascribes to the common coaching philosophy of availability being a player’s best ability, and there are serious concerns in that department. A hamstring injury suffered in training camp last season held Facyson out much longer than expected as he only ended up playing three games after signing on for a second stint with the Raiders in free agency.
Now hurt again, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll ever be able to stay healthy.
Bennett has created clear separation from the likes of fourth-round rookie Decamerion Richardson and third-year Raider Sam Webb — the pair getting most of the second-team reps — with Facyson sidelined.
He’s made a lot of plays, but also may lead the team flags as he was called for pass interference or holding three times in the last two days.
One call on Wednesday drew the ire of Crosby, who began shouting at the referee that it was unjustified. Bennett may have some work to erase memories of a forgettable rookie season, but the Raiders have his back.
“I ain’t really trying to show anybody anything, honestly, because my teammates know what I can do,” Bennett said. “They know who I am, they see the work I put in and they believe in me.”
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or