At the forefront of the Las Vegas Raiders' issues over the past several seasons is their constant rotation through head coaches and general managers. Not only does this lead to majorly retooling the roster every offseason, but it also severely inhibits the growth and progression of young players.
This is especially true for late-rounders or depth pieces, as it is difficult for the new regime to come in and see what the vision was for said player. Either that, or a player was selected because they could fit into a system that is no longer being used in Las Vegas.
It was well-documented when he came to the Raiders that Pete Carroll likes tall and fast cornerbacks with long arms. While that meant moving on from key players like Nate Hobbs, Jack Jones and Jakorian Bennett, it meant new life for Kyu Blu Kelly and Decamerion Richardson, who fit this criteria.
Pete Carroll has officially given up on Raiders' Decamerion Richardson
The only problem is that, while Kelly played a pivotal role for the Las Vegas defense before his season-ending injury in Week 14, Richardson hasn't been utilized. In fact, Richardson hasn't played a single defensive snap, and Carroll seems fine with watching the 2024 fourth-rounder go up in flames.
Last season, Richardson played a lot for the Raiders' defense. He started seven games at cornerback and played 559 defensive snaps as a rookie, in addition to 89 special teams snaps. Richardson was, to be fair, forced into the lineup due to injuries, but he really got his feet wet in his first season.
However, Year 2 has been a major step back for him. Yes, his duties on special teams have doubled, playing 168 snaps, but again, he has not seen the field for Patrick Graham's unit. This is despite Kelly going down with the aforementioned season-ending injury weeks ago.
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Richardson wasn't exactly a shutdown corner in 2024, but he showed promise and had several good outings. For a Day 3 project pick, that is enough to get a chance at some playing time the following year. Plus, the Raiders aren't playing for anything, so now is the time for them to experiment with him.
If they put Richardson out there and he truly can't hang with NFL defenses, at least in Pete Carroll's defense, then they can feel vindicated about their decision to have him ride the pine this year. Or, they may very well find that he has been a diamond in the rough all along.
Either way, Las Vegas needs to know what it has in Richardson before heading into the offseason. By letting him rot away on the bench and by not even giving him a chance, they are wasting these years of his rookie contract and letting his career go up in smoke for no real good reason.