Graney: 3rd-year CB, now healthy, needs to make his mark with Raiders

Jakorian Bennett needs to be good for the Raiders this season. And healthy.

Yeah. That’s it. Good and healthy.

It won’t guarantee the third-year cornerback a starting job, but it sure would go a long way toward securing one. That, and if he could replicate his play from last season.

You know, before he went down with an injured shoulder and missed the Raiders’ last seven games.

Bennett was so much better in 2024 than he was during a forgettable rookie season. So much more productive. At least until his injury forced him to shut things down.

“I would be out there during games knowing that my shoulder would pop out,” said Bennett, a 2023 fourth-round pick out of Maryland. “It probably popped out five times last season. I had a torn labrum. A lot of people don’t know that.

“I was just bugging out. They would (pop the shoulder) back in and I’d go back out there. Going back in, going back in. It feels good to have it right and to see that next step.”

Bennett’s surgically repaired shoulder is now healthy, or at least trending in a positive direction. And that’s good news.

Adding more names?

Cornerback continues to be one of the Raiders’ main question marks on defense. Bennett, 24, won’t be handed anything. Nor should he be.

It’s possible the Raiders decide to add more bodies at the position after their mandatory minicamp this week. That’s something out of Bennett’s control, so his focus needs to be on performing at a high level during a prove-it year.

“I don’t call myself an old man, but it’s good to have some experience,” Bennett said. “I’ve been through a lot, you know. Third head coach and third position coach in three years.

“You don’t want anybody just giving you anything. I come here to work. I just have to show the coaches who I am and who I know I can be. Just go out there and continue to work. It feels amazing, man. I haven’t had both my shoulders since college.”

Bennett felt good entering last season. He felt he learned plenty as a rookie. He felt the game started to slow down for him. It showed.

He had eight pass breakups in 10 games before his shoulder injury. He was playing like one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. He was getting better every week, every snap.

But that doesn’t mean much now.

Pete Carroll is the Raiders new coach and he’s always preferred long, lanky cornerbacks. Rookie third-round pick Darien Porter (6-foot-2) and free-agent signee Eric Stokes (6 feet) fit that mold. Bennett (5-foot-11) does not.

But results should dictate who gets the most playing time. And Bennett has shown he can produce when healthy.

Get the ball

“(Carroll) is all about getting the ball,” said Bennett, who does not have an interception in the NFL. “It’s what I want to implement into my game. It’s all about the ball. It’s him instilling that confidence in us. You just have to translate it to the field.

“I was just hanging on (last season) with the little muscles I had left. I felt it was best to shut it down. It could have been a lot worse than what it was. It was just so frustrating when you go out there and you’re not 100 percent.

“But it’s just part of the game. I was going to go out there and leave it all behind. I’ll do anything for these guys.”

And he has a shoulder that kept popping out to prove it.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.