Las Vegas Raiders Quick Reaction NFL Grades 2021: Nate Hobbs
By Nick Bailey
With the 167th pick in the fifth round of the NFL Draft the Las Vegas Raiders have selected cornerback of Illinois Nate Hobbs.
With the inconsistency on the defensive backfield, and already attacking one weakness, the defensive line in free agency, it’s no surprise for the Las Vegas Raiders to get aggressive in improving their secondary in the draft as well.
Day 2 already consisted of safety Trevon Moehrig and safety/linebacker Divine Deablo.
The Raiders stayed focused on their defensive backfield on Day 3 as well, picking up slot cornerback Nate Hobbs out of the University of Illinois. Hobbs played both inside and outside corner in his career at Illinois, but he projects to be a slot corner at the next level.
Have the Raiders found their Slot Corner of the future?
While being thrown into the fire last season, rookie cornerbacks Damon Arnette and Amik Robertson struggled for different reasons. Arnette seemed to be the real deal in training camp, prompting the Raiders to release Prince Amukamara, and starting Arnette on the opposite of Trayvon Mullen.
However, Arnette struggled with injuries and inconsistent play, and the jury is still out on him.
Robertson started as a backup and when pressed into game-time action at slot corner he just seemed not ready and lost at times on the field. Did the Raiders finally address their more glaring weaknesses at slot corner?
Nate Hobbs isn’t expected to be a starter at slot corner next season or even next season I believe, but he will provide great depth for the position.
Hobbs play tapered off from the 2019 to 2020 season, as he only started five games this past season missing three due to injury, and totaled 31 tackles and one interception, which did lead to a game-winning field goal against Rutgers. In 2019, he had one interception as well but had 67 tackles and nine pass breakup.
But his overall career stats are pretty impressive over his career, as he has racked up 168 total tackles 110 of them solo with 12.5 tackles for a loss, three interceptions and 14 passes defended.
Although Hobbs could turn out to be a tough, solid slot corner for the Las Vegas Raiders and does address a pressing need at slot corner and just defense in general there were more talented overall players at the point of where they drafted.
My choice for this selection would’ve been guard Deonte Brown out of Alabama who ended up going to the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round. At this point in the draft and how the roster is set up the Raiders seem to be going after both depth and athleticism in these later rounds of the draft which should end up benefitting them in the long term.
Especially if defensive backs coach Ron Milus can work his magic and bring out the 2019 version of Hobbs we could see him contributing to the defense sooner rather than later.