New Raiders CB Was Best Under DC Patrick Graham

The Las Vegas Raiders recently signed cornerback Darnay Holmes. Holmes had his best seasons under Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham while with the New York Giants.

Sep 18, 2022; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham reacts in the second half against the Arizona Cardinals at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

After all teams finalized their initial 53-man rosters, the Las Vegas Raiders were on the lookout to find any players who were released or waived that could help them make the roster better. The Raiders had, and still do have, the financial stability to add a player if needed.

The Raiders went out and added cornerback Darnay Holmes to the roster to help with the depth at the cornerback position. Las Vegas is a young team and needed to add a veteran to that room.

Holmes is also familiar with Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, as Graham coached Holmes when Graham served as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants.

Our Hondo S. Carpenter Sr. and Sports Illustrated's Giants beat writer Patricia Traina discussed Holmes on a recent episode of the "Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast."

"I am a little shocked that the Giants cut Darnay," Carpenter said. "... The Raiders had interest in him well before camp started. If the Giants saw him as a potential guy to cut, I am surprised they were not trying to finagle a trade with him. They were not. But that shocked me. I think this was a great hire -- Patrick Graham loves him. I think he is a great player."

"Darnay Holmes, 5-foot-10, 195 pounds, fourth-round draft pick, 110th overall for the Giants in 2020 out of UCLA," Traina said. "Interesting player. He was primarily an outside cornerback. They converted him to a slot at the Giants, I guess because of his size. He has always been a good guy, who has played very larger than his size. He is physical, he is aggressive, he is fearless. Those are some of the very good aspects of him. He had two years with Patrick Graham when Patrick Graham was the DC over here with the Giants... He had his strong seasons with Patrick Graham. ... In 2022, that is when things started to fall for Darnay Holmes. ... It is interesting because the Giants, starting in 2021, they started to draft over him. Trying to replace him with draft picks, try to replace him with free agents. And in 2022 the first-year defensive coordinator, Wink Martindale, was not a good year for Darnay Holmes. He led the team in penalties. ... Darnay Holmes as a cornerback, the pros for him are he is very aggressive, not afraid to hit. The negatives sometimes, that aggressiveness could get him into trouble with taking chances, taking bad angles. Committing stupid penalties... But as a special teamer, he was one of the Giants' best special teamers last year. He played punt gunner. He was the second top tackler on special teams last year."

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