Las Vegas Raiders - Decamerion Richardson
Fourth Round Pick
At one point, there was a report that Decamerion Richardson was “ahead of schedule” when it comes to his growth and ability as a player. The fourth-round pick looked quite good in training camp, but then he suffered a hamstring injury. Now, he’s perpetually on the injury list, but he hasn’t been able to come off of it. He’s already been ruled out for Week 4, and we expect it to at least linger for the entire season.
As a cornerback, a lingering hamstring injury can be a killer. It really impacts the ability to quickly accelerate and decelerate. That’s basically how all offenses operate today, using trickery to change direction and speeds. So, Richardson comes into his NFL career with this soft-tissue injury that hampers the exact thing he is supposed to do.
Most didn’t expect Richardson to be a Day 1 starter until they saw him play. He’s a fantastic tackler, as he proved at Mississippi State. That will help him continue to compete for a job in this rotation, but going from a starter as a fourth-round pick to a player who can’t get healthy is a major concern. Richardson could be one of the steals of the draft, or he could be another example of a player who had all the possibilities in the world.