Las Vegas Raiders: Ranking the 2023 Draft class by first-year impact
By Brad Weiss
Las Vegas Raiders: Ranking the 2023 Draft class by first-year impact
No. 2: Jakorian Bennett, CB, Maryland
This pick for the player to make the second-biggest impact as a rookie may surprise some people, but we go with Jakorian Bennett from Maryland. Going into the 2023 NFL Draft, cornerback was a big need for the Raiders, and if Devon Witherspoon from Illinois was still on the board, he could have been the team's pick at No. 7 overall.
During the offseason, the Raiders added quality players to the position group in Duke Shelley and David Long Jr., two players who are destined for a lot of playing time in 2023. The group also returns Nate Hobbs, who was outstanding in the slot as a rookie in 2021, and a move back there should help him forget a down second season at the NFL level.
Bennett is going to come in this summer and challenge for a starting cornerback spot on the outside, and he is good enough to win the job. He is a ball-hawking defensive back who is solid in man or zone coverages, and in a position group that needed to be revamped this offseason, Bennett could make the biggest defensive impact of any rookie drafted this past April.