Missing Piece: Raiders’ Defense Suffers Without Star CB Jakorian Benett

Things went from bad to worse for the Las Vegas Raiders once Jakorian Bennett left the game two snaps into Week 11’s contest against the Miami Dolphins. Bennett, who was one of Sin City’s biggest liabilities on defense in 2023, has quickly grown into one of the team’s biggest assets after only one season. If the value of the second-year cornerback was in question, Sunday’s contest showed exactly how important Bennett is to the Silver and Black.

Without Bennett, Las Vegas surrendered 271 passing yards on the day. This stands as the second-most yardage allowed through the air this season by the Raiders, second to only the “Business decisions” game in Week 3 against Carolina.

After completing 77.8% of his passes against Las Vegas, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa now leads the league in completion percentage. His three touchdowns in Week 11 was a season-high mark, as was his 127.8 quarterback rating.

As a collective, the Raiders cornerback room totaled zero broken-up passes this weekend. Bennett’s absence had a direct effect on the unit’s inability to force incompletions.

Jakorian Bennett, and his impact on the Las Vegas Raiders

By all accounts, Maryland alum Jakorian Bennett has truly become a star in his sophomore campaign. The proof of that is in his coverage analytics this season.

With an allowed completion percentage of 48.6% on passes his way, Bennett is responsible for the seventh-lowest completion percentage among all cornerbacks league-wide with at least 100 coverage snaps. Additionally, the 24-year-old has kept opposing quarterbacks to a 62.4 passer rating when tested, surrendering a total of zero touchdowns on the year.

The biggest reason for Bennett’s success has been his superb ability to personally break up passes; an ability he demonstrates each week.

Through 11 weeks, only eight defenders across the NFL at any position can claim they’ve forced more incompletions than Bennett has (8). Of the six cornerbacks who allow a completion percentage lower than Bennett’s when targeted, just two have personally broken up more passes than the Raiders young star.

The most impressive part is, Bennett is doing this while only being targeted on 37 occasions. That’s the lowest total number of targets among all players league-wide who rank top-16 in forced incompletions.

Las Vegas has seen what happens when their fourth-rounder in the 2023 NFL Draft is on the field, and now, they’ve also seen what happens when he isn’t. Needless to say, they’ll take the former each and every time.

Bennett is currently nursing a shoulder injury that sidelined him in Week 11 after two plays. It remains unclear if he’ll be available moving forward.