Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Isaiah Johnson helped seal the win for the Silver and Black, he even received the game ball for his efforts. Thanks to Johnson, his team sits at 5-3 and is now in the hunt for a playoff spot.
Johnson, a 2019 fourth-round selection, is coming into his own here in his sophomore campaign. He’s played 80 total snaps on defense, with 53 of them coming in coverage according to Pro Football Focus. Rookie cornerback Damon Arnette was the starter opposite of Trayvon Mullen when the season began. Unfortunately, a thumb injury and then catching COVID-19 took Arnette out of commission. This eventually led to an increase in playing time for the other corners, Johnson among them.
In fact, Johnson had fifty snaps on Sunday versus the Chargers, the most ever in his career. He ended with a stat line of six tackles total and two passes defensed. It was the latter that helped define his Sunday performance.
Related: Rushing Attack Leads The Silver and Black To Victory
Johnson Was Clutch When The Raiders Needed Him
Make no mistake Raider Nation, it would be a different story if the call had stood as a touchdown in the closing second on Sunday. It’s highly probably Johnson would have caught some flack for his coverage, though if you see closely, he played Donald Parham Jr. as best he could. The Los Angeles Chargers tight end was unable to maintain possession and that was all she wrote.
Isaiah Johnson knocked it away for the win 👀 @_bigplayzay @Raiders
📺 #LVvsLAC on FOX pic.twitter.com/DUAQGEPeSG
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) November 9, 2020
We also saw Johnson make some excellent tackles in run defense, and as PFF states, Johnson has been excellent against the run. For 2020, Johnson is graded at 71.4 in run defense this season. Despite the excellent performance, we won’t crown Johnson so soon, even Raiders head coach Jon Gruden alluded to this. While Johnson is definitely improving, Gruden stated the sophomore is a ‘work in progress’ but as we all saw on Sunday, he’s developing nicely in front of our own eyes.
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*Top Photo: Raiders Official Website