The Oakland Raiders saw two of their safeties go down due to injury on Thursday night, clearing the way for them to sign D.J. Swearinger on Friday.
The Oakland Raiders have utilized a rotation of safeties in their secondary this season. With the team suffering multiple injuries in their Thursday night matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, Oakland has brought aboard a new playmaker on the backend.
The Raiders have signed free agent safety D.J. Swearinger, according to the Athletic’s Vic Tafur.
The Raiders were hit with an injury at safety in week one when Jonathan Abram was declared out for the season after the team’s first victory of the year. In last night’s game, Lamarcus Joyner left the field in the fourth quarter with what looked to be a leg injury. In addition to Joyner’s injury, Karl Joseph also suffered a devastating blow to his foot on the final play of the game.
Both injuries remain to be unknown until further examinations but head coach Jon Gruden touched on his concerns after Thursday night’s victory.
“Worried about Joyner, really worried about him. Worried about Joseph,” he said.
Swearinger was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2018 before signing this season with the Arizona Cardinals where he played 100 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. His stint in the desert was short lived after the team released him, partly due to his coverage breakdowns.
So what does the addition of Swearinger bring to the Oakland defense?
Swearinger is in his seventh season in the NFL and has played in five different defense’s throughout his career. His knack for finding the football is one of his greatest strengths as he’s a true run-stuffing safety.
During his playing career he’s had his bumps and bruises when being put in man coverage situations, but will come away with takeaways from time to time. In his last two full-seasons he averaged four interceptions and 10 passes broken up.
The Raiders have a ton of youth up and down their roster and bringing in a player like Swearinger who has a multitude of snaps under his playing career could be beneficial for the younger core.
The Oakland defense has been a struggling unit of the past, however, the last two weeks they’ve played a different brand of football.
Pairing Swearinger alongside the emerging Erik Harris, looks to be the Raiders plans moving forward if the severity of Joseph’s foot puts him on the sideline.