How the Raiders Plan to Make Up for the Loss of CB Amik Robertson

The Las Vegas Raiders are expected to have one of the best defenses in the league, but they'll first have to make up for the loss of cornerback Amik Robertson, a significant blow to their defensive backfield.

Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams misses a catch against Raiders cornerback Amik Robertson during the first half at Ford Field on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

While the Las Vegas Raiders added Christian Wilkins, one of the best defensive linemen in the National Football League, to their defense earlier this offseason, the Silver and Black also lost a significant contributor from last year’s defense.

Cornerback Amik Robertson left the team in free agency to join the Detroit Lions. With his departure, the Raiders lost a player who started 12 games for them last season. 

Robertson played nearly 60 percent of the team’s defensive snaps and just over 15 percent of the special teams’ snaps last season. He was undoubtedly one of the more dependable players on a Raiders team that did not have many of them. Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said losing talented players like Robertson is to be expected in the NFL.

“Well, you lose good players every year. That's just the nature of the game in the NFL,” Graham said at training camp. “But in terms of the secondary, we’ll establish what the secondary is going to be by what we do on that practice field and what we do in the meeting rooms. So, I mean, for me here to sit here and predict, I mean, the main thing as a defensive back is we got to be able to tackle, we got to defend the deep part of the field, and we got to be able to communicate. Those are big things right there.”

Graham stressed the importance of execution. He plans to use training camp and the team’s remaining practices to continue working on the fundamentals of the game. While the Raiders’ defensive backs are arguably the unit that needs the most development this offseason, Graham plans to have them and the rest of the defense ready to go by the season's first game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

“And then, when you got a chance to make a play on the ball, make a play on the ball,” Graham said. “I promise you, you'll see all that stuff worked out there on the field, so if we keep improving one percent every day, after 17 days, we'll see where it's at, and then we’ll go play. And then getting ready for September 8th. I don't know where it's going to be, but we know what the goal is.”

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