Las Vegas Raiders: 3 position battles heating up after the win against Seattle
By Alex Perl
The Las Vegas Raiders looked solid on both sides of the ball during the win against Seattle Saturday, adding more fire to some position battles.
The Las Vegas Raiders beat the Seattle Seahawks inside Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night, just as we predicted here. With a 20-7 victory for the Raiders in their preseason debut, we saw a lot of positives, as the team looked pretty solid on both sides of the ball.
The position battles up for grabs were well known before the night started, and after some spectacular play from an assortment of players, it seems that the battles just heated up to a whole new level. We take a look at three of them here.
Las Vegas Raiders: 3 position battles heating up after the win against Seattle
Nickel Corner
The nickel corner position has been up for grabs since training camp, and from a bird’s eye view, it seemed that rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs had the inside track to start, as he was taking the majority of first-team reps. Once the first ‘unofficial’ depth chart was released, we noticed that veteran Nevin Lawson was named the starter.
However, that may be subject to change, as we finally got to see Hobbs in game-time action last night, and he surely did not disappoint. With exceptional speed and great coverage skills, we saw some athleticism from Hobbs that the 30-year-old Lawson does not own.
It is only one game, so we can’t just give the job to Hobbs outright, but after that hot start, Lawson would have to hope his experience in the league would be the only key to him winning the job. Remember, he is also suspended for the first two games, giving Hobbs another leg up in the competition.