Getty Seattle Seahawks CB Sidney Jones.
With the trade deadline approaching, the Las Vegas Raiders have some big decisions to make. They are 2-4 right now and have a lot of work to do to get back into the playoff race. Some teams in their position might be sellers. However, the Raiders have won two of their last three and have a roster talented enough to make a playoff push.
The team did recently trade former starting defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins for a draft pick but he wasn’t playing much this season. The Raiders would be wise to see what talent they can bring in this season and go all-in on the playoffs. Cornerback is a big area of concern with Nate Hobbs on Injured Reserve. Anthony Averett just returned from injury but he allowed two touchdowns in coverage against the Houston Texans in Week 7. Alex Ballentine of Bleacher Report believes that Seattle Seahawks cornerback Sidney Jones IV would be a good fit in Las Vegas:
If the Raiders have any hope of clawing their way back into the playoff race, they need reinforcements in the secondary.
Fortunately, Sidney Jones IV could help, and the Seahawks should be willing to deal him. The 26-year-old has only played 45 defensive snaps this season.
His exclusion from the Seahawks lineup is interesting because he only allowed a passer rating of 84.3 last season.
That’s a skill set the Raiders could use right now.
Jones Likely Won’t Be Expensive in Trade
Jones came into the NFL as a second-round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles and won a Super Bowl ring as a rookie. He was later traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars before making his way to the Seahawks last season. He started 11 games for the team last year but has fallen out of the starting lineup this season.
If the Raiders want to make a trade for Jones, it won’t take much. In fact, there’s a chance he could get released outright with Tre Brown returning from injury for Seattle. The Raiders could throw a seventh-round pick the Seahawks’ way to ensure they land Jones but there’s no way he’s getting the team anything more than a sixth-round pick. He could be a better fit leaving a zone-heavy Seahawks defense for a Raiders defense that uses more man coverage.
Sidney Jones said NOPE!
Duron Harmon Says Raiders Are Better at Man Than Zone
The Raiders’ secondary has been the weak link for the defense but they haven’t been helped by the lack of pass rush. Last year, former defensive coordinator Gus Bradley almost exclusively used zone coverage. Under Patrick Graham, the Raiders use man coverage on 31.1 percent of dropbacks. According to safety Duron Harmon, the team is much better at man coverage right now and is still trying to figure out zone.
“We have some really good man-to-man players, but in this league you gotta be able to play both,” Harmon said, via The Athletic. “We’re gonna need zone as well, so we need to pick that up and be better on that so that we can have the flexibility to go back and forth between both.”
Perhaps Graham should try to stick to his defense’s strengths until they prove they can play better zone coverage.