Raiders training camp eve: 7 undrafted rookies to watch

Woo Governor, CB, Northern Iowa

Outside of having the coolest name on this list, and maybe in the entire organization, Woo Governor brings a little bit of everything to the field. He is about average size for a slot corner at 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, and he is incredibly fast. He was an FCS All-American at Northern Iowa and during the 2022 season, he recorded four interceptions, two of which he returned for a touchdown.

It appears that teams stopped throwing at him during his senior year, as his pass deflection and interception numbers both dropped, but he still racked up 2 forced fumbles and a recovery in 2023 and collected 123 tackles over the two seasons. The team obviously has a need at cornerback, but not necessarily in the slot.

Unless he can be an ace on special teams, I see him landing on the team’s practice squad. He did say in an interview with NFL Draft Diamonds that if he could have dinner with three people, dead or alive, one of those people would be Raiders legend Charles Woodson. Governor said, “in my eyes he’s the GOAT overall DB from corner to safety,” so he gets points for that. 

Ja’Quan Sheppard, CB, Maryland/Cincinnati

Multiple websites and draft portfolios thought that Sheppard would be a mid-to-late round pick, but yet here he is with the Raiders as a UDFA. He does struggle a bit in man coverage, and his measurables are nothing to write home about, but once again, his production in college was fantastic. He began his career opposite of Sauce Gardner at the University of Cincinnati where he participated in the College Football Playoff in 2021.

In his final year as a Bearcat, he recorded 10 pass breakups, 50 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and a sack en route to First Team All-AAC honors. He followed that up with an eight-pass break-up, 31 tackle, 3.0 tackle for loss and one sack campaign at the University of Maryland. He is not the best tackler by any means, but he really brought it in big games his senior season. Against the eventual national champion Michigan Wolverines, Sheppard recorded six solo tackles in addition to a pass break-up and a tackle for loss.

He is big enough at 6-foot-2, 202 pounds to play on the outside as a boundary corner, which helps his chances, but it is more likely the team gives the edge to a drafted player like Decamerion Richardson or M.J. Devonshire. Sheppard could end up on the practice squad, but he could be on another team’s active roster as a project where he sees less young competition in his way.