Many are calling Louisiana Tech cornerback Amik Robertson one of the “steals” of the 2020 draft and while that’s good news for the Raiders, it’s not great news for their current nickel cornerback Lamarcus Joyner.
Joyner is a leader in the Raiders locker room and has a $9.2 million cap number coming (cap hit goes up to 11.75M if he’s cut), but he was a serious liability in coverage last year and will turn 30 during the 2020 season. His chances of holding off Robertson at nickel cornerback have to be slim, right?
The only knock on Robertson going into the draft was his size and he’s still a fraction of an inch taller than Joyner.
As the salary cap is concerned, Joyner is more expensive to cut than he is to keep. While he has struggled at cornerback (worst Pro Football Focus grade in the Raiders secondary), for some reason the team doesn’t seem to have any interest in moving him back to safety. The Raiders essentially lost a bidding war on free agent CB Chris Harris Jr. (in part at least) because of their unwillingness to move Joyner from his nickel cornerback role.
So where does Joyner fit moving forward?
Maybe that’s something Jon Gruden and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther can figure out this summer from quarantine, but the decision will probably come down to two options…
Either A) play Joyner at safety… or B) employ the highest-paid backup defensive back in the league.
At minimum, Guenther has to at least explore the idea of option “A” before getting stuck with option “B”. Or maybe it might come down to an expensive option “C” where the Raiders just cut bait and just decide to move on without Joyner. Probably not… but you never know.
twitter: @raidersbeat
I said it in an earlier post this week that Robertson will not be on the bench then this article comes out🤔. I also said Robertson skills are so good that he is best DB on the Raiders roster right now! That includes Trayvon Mullen. Then PFF comes out ranking Robertson the number one DB in the NCAA. His numbers were significantly better than Okuda, Diggs, and Fulton! That said, the only option I see is option (B). Can’t put Joyner at FS now because of Randall. Randall’s way better at FS. I’m just glad the Raiders got Robertson. Oh and an underrated part of his game is how hard he hits. He can lay the wood. When we play KC I want Robertson to be Tyreke Hill’s shadow the whole game!!
**** yes👍
He sucked at corner. Play him at SAFETY. Gruden scares me at times. If he fails at safety then you cut your loss and swallow your pride.
Sucked at corner? Man GTFO. Anybody wanna talk about some real sh🤬?
Amir is better cover corner already. We got set a safety with the the Randall/Heath pick ups. Too much money to sit behind Harris. Cut or trade him. Hopefully trade him.
I am still trying to figure out why Guenther insists on putting a guy where he doesn’t play well. You gave him a whole season to get it right and he is NOT good in the slot. We have seen it before. Dumbass coaches trying to make a player something that he isn’t. Put him where he belongs, or watch him get toasted for another 16 weeks.
I agree but Damarious Randall is better at FS than Joyner. Sad to say but Joyner is just going to have to be an expensive back up. I don’t understand why the Raiders didn’t release him when they had the chance. Or did they have a chance? Not sure. But Amic Robertson will shut down Tyreke Hill and Jerry Juedy for Denver. Juedy worked out of the slot 90% at Alabama. And whom ever else
need to cut Guenther… puts players in bad positions to suit his stupid defensive scheme…i.e. Ferrell in the middle of the d-line. Joyner in the nickel instead of his natural position at safety
Joyner belongs at safety. Why does everyone act like you only have one guy at each position on a roster? Do none of you “fans” even understand the defensive scheme the Raiders use? If you think Robertson and Joyner wont be on the field at the same time there is no hope for you.
I just say move Joyner to safety. He has had his best seasons at safety. What they should do is have an open competition for all the cb spots and the best two start. Trayvon is great but if he’s not the best then to the bench, same with Arnette. Put the best 2 out there. Then we can rotate the others in to give the starters a break from running all day cause in the AFC West you will be running. SD, KC, Denver all loaded up in the draft to so look out. Should be fun
I agree but Damarious Randall is better at FS than Joyner. Sad to say but Joyner is just going to have to be an expensive back up. I don’t understand why the Raiders didn’t release him when they had the chance. Or did they have a chance? Not sure. But Amic Robertson will shut down Tyreke Hill and Jerry Juedy for Denver. Juedy worked out of the slot 90% at Alabama. And whom ever else
Move Joyner to safety? Then do what with Damarious Randall who is easily better and CHEAPER than Joyner?
As if Joyner can play safety better than our other safeties. He was our highest paid player last season on defense. And as mentioned, graded out the worst. I don’t care how great a lockeroom guy he is, 10 mil for getting burned more than newlywed’s toast ain’t cutting it.
The starting secondary will be Mullen and Arnette at corners, Abrams and Randall at safety, Robertson the nickel. Believe it Baby! No rocket science will be needed to make this decision.
Get rid of Joyner, But I know its a business decision for the Raiders. They shouldn’t have paid Joyner all that money in the first place. Bad move.
Amir is better cover corner already. We got set a safety with the the Randall/Heath pick ups. Too much money to sit behind Harris. Cut or trade him. Hopefully trade him.