The Las Vegas Raiders used the 19th overall selection in 2020’s draft to take cornerback Damon Arnette. They surely envisioned the Ohio State starting opposite of Trayvon Mullen. Nevertheless, due to a myriad of reasons, the rookie corner struggled in his first season in the NFL.
Damon Arnette didn’t fulfill expectations in his rookie season
Head coach Jon Gruden shared his current assessment of Arnette in a recent sit-down with the local media. He said the corner needs to get stronger and added that availability is a concern. Moving forward, he has to prove he can stay available but regardless of the reason, he had a disappointing rookie season. In the conference call, Gruden mentioned young players have to be available not just Sunday but throughout the week as well.
Arnette spent time on both the Injured Reserve and COVID-19/reserve lists in 2020. He broke his thumb early in the season and later caught the coronavirus. All in all, the Ohio State product missed seven games and played on just 32 percent of the team’s total snaps on defense in 2020.
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The early returns aren’t encouraging for the Raiders
There are different ways to look at Arnette’s first season in the NFL. On one hand, injuries are an inherent part of the sports and he should get a full evaluation once he’s healthy. He still has room for growth and it’s too early to give up on him. However, the Raiders didn’t draft the cornerback to ride the bench. Teams expect their first-round picks to have an impact on the field and Texas native didn’t have much in 2020.
Arnette allowed 25 receptions on 32 targets for a 78.1 completion rate and didn’t log an interception. Moreover, he earned a measly 41.7 Pro Football Focus overall grade in 2020 and missed 12 tackles. On the bright side, he didn’t give up a touchdown.
While it’s too early to declare Arnette a wasted draft pick, his rookie season left much to be desired. If the cornerback wants to avoid getting the bust label, he will have to play significantly better in his sophomore campaign.
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Top Photo: John Bazemore/Associated Press
Those are the returns when you REACH for a player. And I thought Reggie Mac sucked at drafting. Gruden/Mayock don’t have a clue.
When leadership is lacking, it is hard to excel no matter what the job calls for. Paul Gunther surely wasn’t the best of leaders on the field. Let’s see what Arnette can do when he is put in the position where his skills can be utilized correctly. I believe that to be a successful team, it’s 51% coaching to 49% player skills. We need a great youngish DC in place for the long haul. We need one now, and we need one urgently. NOT necessarily a friend or family member. So c’mon Gruden, all eyes are on you.
He will be alright it was his first year he will bounce back
He’s not the worst draft pick they wasted. Ferrell was a big waste.
Arnett was a total bust he really needs to step up his game he was a first round pick and he should of made a big impact on the field but he looked like a kid that just lost his dog all season what’s up dude either step up your game or get a hold of McDonald’s I hear that they need a fry cook hell you might even make flipping burgers some day now either way the choice is yours
And one has to really look at our pass rush if the QB has 4 to 6 seconds there isn’t a corner back around that can keep coverage we need a pass rush defense or we won’t never have a decent defense we need a good defense end and 2 great linebackers or are corners and safetys will always look like S*** we need a pass rush and it all starts with the coach and GM so get off of your ass gruden and maycock and get us a pass rush defense or Mark Davis do your job as an owner period Davis gruden and maycock do your job we don’t need family we don’t need a friend we need a BOSS
The secondary problems are essentially the result of Guenther and his half assed coaching.
Our defense has way to many holes in it we need a pass rush our offence is good and carr is a good QB our defense needs to get better I mean a lot better it sucks we shouldn’t have to be playing catch up with 3 minutes left in every game the other team knows that we have to pass with 1 time out and 80 yards to go when the other team knows what were gonna do it’s really hard on a QB then we score like always but we leave 58 seconds on the clock and guess what the other team go’s right down the field and scores and everyone says carr didn’t play good enough well kiss my tan Italian ass our defense sucks period they couldn’t stop a junior high school football team let alone an NFL team so gruden and maycock do your job
El problema es Jon Geffen
If you look at it Arnett didn’t give up a single touchdown