{"id":785018,"date":"2026-03-01T19:40:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/785018\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T19:40:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T19:40:15","slug":"safety-genesis-smith-could-be-the-playmaker-the-raiders-are-looking-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/785018\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety Genesis Smith could be the playmaker the Raiders are looking for\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Las Vegas Raiders are studying prospects at the NFL combine with the hopes of adding young talent to the roster and helping the football team. The quarterback position should be addressed with th first pick, but other positions will be filled with later draft picks on days two and three.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The secondary needs a boost in younger talent, especially at safety. The safety group is deep in this draft class, and the Raiders could end up adding multiple prospects for the back end of the defense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">A player on the rise during draft season is Genesis Smith from Arizona. Smith is a true free safety with incredible range who knows how to bait quarterbacks into making mistakes. He is fluid in his movements at 6\u20192 \u201d, 202 pounds, with long arms, and would be a welcome addition to the Silver and Black.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Smith spoke about his length and how it helps him succeed at his combine press conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cI feel like when the ball is in the air at its highest point, it\u2019s always mine. I feel like I can go up and get the ball, and my vertical and explosion are a big part of my game as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">An area where Smith has struggled during in college career was tackling. He had a 20% missed-tackle rate in 2025, according to PFF. He understands it is a concern for NFL teams and knows he can improve.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">\u201cA lot of the question marks with my game have just been my consistency in tackling. Angles and striking point, just keeping my pad level down is what coaches and GMs want to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Smith\u2019s instincts and coverage skills might make him a steal in this year\u2019s draft. The Raiders could be the thieves who make it happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Las Vegas Raiders are studying prospects at the NFL combine with the hopes of adding young talent&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,2492,4241,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-785018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-las-vegas","10":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","11":"tag-las-vegas-raiders-draft","12":"tag-las-vegas-raiders-news","13":"tag-lasvegas","14":"tag-lasvegasraiders","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116155621389014598","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}