Good news: Vegas have added another top star to their CB.
Las Vegas Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce wants to make it “a priority” to add to the unit this offseason, but he does believe he has a solid foundation to work with. “I think you saw the addition of Jack Jones [whistles],” Pierce said at the NFL Combine on Feb. 28. “Big time, good for us, confidence, swag, anticipation, lifted the whole group and the defense. “Nate Hobbs, if we could just keep him on the field for 17 games, come on. Probably one of the best star nickels that you’ll get out there because he can cover, he’s physical, he can tackle, extremely competitive. “I thought Amik [Robertson] did a good job. I know he’s a free agent, we’ll see how that plays out.
“And then, you look at JB, [Jakorian] Bennett. I mean, we threw him in the fire early, started as a rookie — what was it? — I don’t know, six or seven games and then off and on after that with injuries. But his confidence came back at the end of the season.
“Didn’t really get to show it on film, but we saw it in practice, saw him the other day in the facility, looks amazing. ” … Do we got to add pieces? Yeah, we got to add pieces. And the pieces we want are guys that want to compete, short-term memory, we want the alphas, man, I want those guys out there that [are] extremely confident. They got to be. “They got to have short-term memory, too, now. Because they’re going to get popped, they’re going to get popped. But you want those guys, man, that just [say]: ‘I want that challenge, I want Tae [Davante Adams] every day in practice, I want to go against Tre Tucker, I want Jakobi [Meyers], I want to go against that guy every day to get better.’ “I want those guys.”
Pierce said he doesn’t want to bring in cornerbacks who just want to wear the brand; he wants them to have the desire “to be the best.” “Is that going to happen right away?” Pierce said. “No; but that group, overall, with who we got in that room, is going to bring the best out of them.” The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently have the No. 13 overall pick.
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Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Tyree Wilson was dealt a lousy hand going into his rookie season after suffering a season-ending injury in his collegiate campaign. Next season, Wilson will have a year under his belt and should be healthy going into training camp. With those factors and the support of 2023 Defensive Player of the Year finalist Maxx Crosby, Wilson has a great opportunity to prove to the league why he went in the Top 10 of the 2023 NFL Draft.
“I know Tyree took some time; think about it, he didn’t have an offseason,” said Raiders Coach Antonio Pierce at the NFL Combine on Feb. 28. “Had surgery, couldn’t really work out, but boom, we throw him in the fire and he’s not quite there yet. And came up very strong at the end, and we talked about it, he said: ‘Listen, I’m going to take some time, go with my family.’
“Which I think he needs to. But the one thing I do know is that he’s going to be back in here early in March before we get started April 15, and he’s going to be with Maxx. And that’s Maxx’s No. 1 job is to get and bring Tyree along, but that’s also Tyree’s job.
“Because we could want it, but Tyree’s got to want it as well, and I think he does because last year, he got humbled. When you’re the seventh pick overall and you don’t have the year that he expected to have, and you hear all the outside noise — and he knows it, it wasn’t good, hell no, it was ugly, it wasn’t pretty at the beginning, but that’s OK. He worked on it, he worked on it, and you saw the improvement.
“And that’s the one thing you can say to yourself: ‘OK, there’s a gleam, a little glimmer of light that you think, going forward, that the light switch[ed].’ And you never know when that’s going to happen as a player, right? And especially as a rookie because they all come in, they’re alphas, they got money … but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, because if you don’t produce on Sundays, nobody cares.” The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently have the No. 13 overall pick.
