Johnathan Abram absence a test of Las Vegas Raiders depth

The Las Vegas Raiders will reportedly be without safety Johnathan Abram which will be a massive test of the team’s depth in the secondary.

The Las Vegas Raiders seem to lose a starting defensive back every week and this week it is starting strong safety Johnathan Abram who is scheduled to miss Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay. The second-year safety is on the Reserve/COVID-19 list after having contact with Trent Brown on Tuesday of this week and per NFL rules needs to be quarantined for five days before he is eligible to play.

This is a massive blow for the Raiders defense as Abram is the leader of the unit and is a tone-setter in the secondary. He has had his lapses in coverage and some missed tackles but for the most part has been one of the better players on a Raiders defense that appeared to be finding its feet against Kansas City in Week 5.

Now they must go against one of the better offensive units in the NFL without Abram and with a secondary that has already lost starting CB Damon Arnette and slot CB Lamarcus Joyner has been limited in practice with a hamstring injury. The Bucs have a plethora of weapons at receiver including Mike Evans and Chris Godwin and a historically great tight end in Rob Gronkowski who is coming in to his own after returning from retirement.

Tom Brady has not been at his best so far this season but with the formidable defense the Bucs have he has not had to be. Where he has excelled is spreading the ball around as his top 4 targets all have between 190-280 yards receiving and even the targets are shared quite evenly though Mike Evans has almost as many receiving touchdowns as the rest of the team.

The Raiders have the talent for a formidable defense, but they will likely lose some of the momentum from the Kansas City due to Abram’s injury. That game saw Jeff Heath take some snaps away from Erik Harris and the secondary improved but now they will likely start alongside each other. This leaves the Raiders with Dallin Leavitt and perhaps Joyner as the backup safeties which of course weakens other positions in the secondary.

Abram’s absence will also be felt in the run game as he has proven himself a willing tackler with 28 combined on the season and two tackles for loss. He brings a level of physicality to the run game, sometimes to his own detriment, that will be hard for Heath or anyone else to replicate.

This is a season full of unprecedented challenges and they may be just beginning for the Raiders as they try to navigate their way back to the playoffs. Dealing with injuries and suspensions is old hat for NFL teams but dealing with a pandemic and all the rules designed to protect players is whole different animal. If the Raiders are to overcome the challenge this particular week they will need to take the next man up approach in the defensive secondary and hope that the backups are capable of doing the job.