The Las Vegas Raiders have released former 2019 first-round pick, Johnathan Abram, after 3.5 disappointing seasons with the team
Just a few months after declining his 5th-year option, the Las Vegas Raiders now plan to release strong safety, Johnathan Abram. The Raiders used a first-round pick on Abram out of Mississippi State in 2019 with the notion that he would provide a physical presence to a struggling secondary. Instead, Abram has flamed out with the team even before the end of his rookie contract and will be searching for a new home in the NFL.
Abram started off well with the team and was one of the chief personalities from the Hard Knocks coverage that followed the team during the 2019 preseason and training camp. He looked like a big-hitting safety that could intimidate wide receivers and running backs alike, but that same big-hitting ability cost him his rookie season as he was injured in week one and was placed on injured reserve.
After that rookie season, fans expected Abram to channel that aggression into becoming a smarter player but for every big hit or tackle for loss, he would miss an assignment or lose someone in coverage. This is not to say that Abram was a complete negative for the Raiders’ defense but his obvious deficiencies in coverage and over-aggression have hurt them more than it has helped them.
Coaches tried to mask some of these deficiencies and highlight his positives by playing Abram closer to the line of scrimmage and allowing him to tee off on quarterbacks and running backs in blitz packages. However, even with those adjustments, Abram struggled to make a consistent impact and has looked slow to the ball this year largely due to a tendency to take bad angles and over-pursue.
We don’t want to place all of the struggles of a horrible defensive unit on Abram’s shoulders, but he did himself no favors with his play.
Raiders first-round picks under Gruden continue to fail
Abram represents yet another massive failure for the Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock era as he is the 5th first-round pick they made that did not or will not see the end of his rookie contract with the team. Henry Ruggs and Damon Arnette were released for off-the-field reasons, Alex Leatherwood was released for being a massive disappointment, Clelin Ferrell will be gone after this year, and now Johnathan Abram joins them in that club.
It is hard to overstate how far back these failed selections have set the team back in their path to contention, but this is without a doubt the worst stretch of first-round selections in NFL history. Josh Jacobs is the lone positive contributor in this group and you can even throw Henry Ruggs in there in terms of talent but making bad decisions off the field count as a strike against you as well.
Who knows where this team would be if Gruden and Mayock were even just mediocre at making first-round selections.
We wish Johnathan Abram the best in his career as he was always proud to be a Raider and showed plenty of grit and toughness during his time with the team, but he was just never good enough. His deficiencies as a player don’t change that he was by all accounts a good teammate and good person, but the Raiders will have to upgrade from him in a major way if they want to compete in the future.