Safeties
Jonathan Abram, Lamarcus Joyner, Karl Joseph, Erik Harris
Safety is one position that will attract a lot of attention this season. This group of Raiders safeties has more hype than any other safety group has had in quite some time.
Lamarcus Joyner will play in a hybrid role where he’ll play safety and a chunk of time at slot cornerback. Jonathan Abram and Karl Joseph are projected to start at the two safety positions when week 1 kicks off. Erik Harris will serve as the backup, but should expect to still see a decent amount of reps throughout the season.
Abram, the No.27th overall pick has been the talk of training camp. Everyone who speaks about the guy, players or coaches, has nothing but good things to say. Gruden raves about his work ethic and says he’s constantly bugging him, asking questions. Abram is locked in as a day one starter, and it will be interesting to see what kind of playmaking ability he shows in the regular season once he’s let loose to lay heavy hits on the opposition.
Joseph played his best football during the back-end of last season, but the Raiders still want to see more out of him. He’s playing on a contract year, which typically is when you see guys play to their utmost potential. Joseph is another heavy hitter and he will need to put that on full display if he wants to make the transition to Las Vegas with the team.
Harris is a guy that Gruden loves to have in the building. He’s a high character guy, and that’s ultimately what he wants in the locker room. Harris will see some time rotating in at one of the two safety spots, but likely won’t be a weekly starter. He gives the Raiders a nice option off the bench to come in a keep things rolling without changing the dynamic of the backend.