Two weeks ago, Yahoo’s Jason Fitz called Nate Hobbs the “Maxx Crosby” of the Raiders secondary.
The heavy compliment from Fitz was a nod to the effort and energy that Hobbs brings to the Raiders secondary, and those traits have been recognized by at least one team outside of the desert.
According to Pro Football Network insider Adam Caplan, the 49ers tried to trade for Hobbs prior to the trade deadline, but the Raiders wouldn’t entertain any trade conversations around the 24-year-old cornerback.
“[The 49ers] looked into several coverage players [at the trade deadline], including Bears CB Jaylon Johnson and other recognizable names such as Raiders versatile CB Nate Hobbs,” Caplan said. “The Raiders see Hobbs as one of their best defensive players and wouldn’t entertain any trade discussions,” he continued. “Hobbs, who was drafted to play the slot initially in 2021, has shown the ability to play inside and outside over the last two seasons.”
On the season, Hobbs is the Raiders’ highest-graded defensive back (Pro Football Focus) with at least 150 snaps, and still has another year on the four-year contract he signed as a rookie.
As for the aforementioned praise from Jason Fitz, here’s the full quote from his appearance last week on Raider Nation Radio’s The Morning Tailgate…
“If there was an award to give for you the guy that you know is going to put his body in the way and take you down, it’s Nate Hobbs. I have a man crush on Nate Hobbs in the way he is playing to the football. I don’t care about the coverage portion of this for a second. I care about when the play is in front of Nate Hobbs, it doesn’t matter if there’s three guys in front of him on a wide receiver screen, my guy finds a way to break through that. He is absolutely a cannon ball swarming to the football, and it feels like he is the effort and energy, the Maxx Crosby of the secondary.”
The 49ers, it seems, would agree with that message.
twitter: @raidersbeat
We’ve hated to forty-winers since air , sure we got Lott and a couple of other players than didn’t pan out, rodger craig . Now I hate the 40 fairies eve more.
I will admit that Nate Hobbs has improved from earlier in the season, and certainly from last season, but, I don’t agree with this assessment of Hobbs. To me, he is inconsistent. Sometimes…..SOMETIMES, Hobbs does the right thing! Other times, not so much. I’ve seen him take bad angles in open field tackling, I’ve seen him get beat on the long ball, and like all the Raider DBs, I’ve seen some pretty “Piss Poor ” coverage and nonexistent tackling. I’d get rid of most of our secondary. It looks as if we are always in “Prevent Defense”. I don’t see us contesting many balls, late in the game, when we have a lead, especially. We play way to soft. This has lost us so many games. That and poor coaching decisions. Regardless, though, I’m a Raider Fan For Life! Go Raiders!
We got to utilize Jakobi Meyer’s high school QB skills to create play action plays with AOC & all the offensive weapons we have. This will dismantle opposing defenses by opening up spaces for more catches of our receivers, tight ends & backs then our offense can really flourish.