{"id":970868,"date":"2026-08-12T05:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/970868\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T05:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T05:00:19","slug":"las-vegas-raiders-rookie-has-a-massive-chip-on-his-shoulder-and-hes-giving-the-entire-league-a-heads-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/970868\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Raiders rookie has a massive chip on his shoulder, and he’s giving the entire league a heads-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNFL<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLas Vegas Raiders<\/a><\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Raiders drafted Hezekiah Masses in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, and he\u2019s been a steal so far.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Las
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tApr 24, 2026; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak at press conference at Intermountain Health Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> could end up hitting on 3 Day 3 picks from the 2026 NFL Draft, and fifth-round cornerback Hezekiah Masses out of Cal might be the one who gets fans the most excited. <\/p>\n

Masses has been one of the best cornerbacks on the roster through the early portion of training camp<\/a>, fighting for a starting spot with cornerback Darien Porter and already winning some of those battles. For a team starving for talent in the secondary, that\u2019s a significant development from a late-round pick.<\/p>\n

But what the Raiders like most about Masses isn\u2019t the fact that he\u2019s extremely fluid in his movements. It\u2019s not the fact that he\u2019s sticky in coverage. And it\u2019s not the fact that while he isn\u2019t fast, he\u2019s very technical. All of those things are true. What Las Vegas loves most is his mentality.<\/p>\n

The Raiders took an approach in this draft where they targeted good football players who also bring the right mindset and versatility. Masses checks every box. When asked about falling to the 5th round during his press conference this past weekend, he didn\u2019t hold back.<\/p>\n

#Raiders<\/a> Hezekiah Masses: “I’m trying to take their head off. It was a big issue; they tried to say I couldn’t tackle. So, yeah, I’m going to show them.”<\/p>\n

\u2014 Justin Churchill (@ChurchillAtoZ) August 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to take their head off. It was a big issue. They tried to say I couldn\u2019t tackle. So yeah, I\u2019m going to show them,\u201d Masses said.<\/p>\n

That quote has the fan base absolutely fired up. It feels like he\u2019s already becoming one of the fan favorites, and why wouldn\u2019t he? When you hear something like that from a cornerback playing for a franchise with the Raiders\u2019 identity, it\u2019s going to resonate.<\/p>\n

Masses fits into a cornerback room building toward something special<\/p>\n

Las Vegas hasn\u2019t had really good cornerbacks in a long time. Their big win in the cornerback market was re-signing Eric Stokes to another deal, and that\u2019s fine. Stokes played well last season. But the Raiders need high-end talent at the position, and they\u2019re banking on development to get there.<\/p>\n

Masses may not project as a superstar, but he could certainly be a starter. He\u2019s already competing for that role in camp. If the Raiders end up hitting on him, Jermod McCoy, and Porter, this secondary is going to be loaded with talent. <\/p>\n

McCoy could have been the best cornerback taken in this draft, but a knee injury caused every team to pass on him until the Raiders traded up in the 4th round to grab him. Porter, drafted last year, continues to develop. Masses would give them a third young cornerback with legitimate upside.<\/p>\n

What to watch for in the preseason<\/p>\n

Masses is a player we could see a lot of during the preseason, at least in the first game. After that, if it becomes evident that he\u2019s the starting guy or capable of being a starter, the Raiders might pull him back. That would be a good sign.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not the only Day 3 pick making noise, either. Sixth-round wide receiver Malik Benson currently sits as the No. 2 receiver behind Jack Bech on the unofficial depth chart. Between Benson, McCoy, and Masses, the Raiders may have found 3 contributors outside the first few rounds.<\/p>\n

Right now, though, Masses is the one generating the most buzz. Cornerback is one of the hardest positions in the NFL, and Masses seems to have the mentality required to thrive at it. For a franchise that has been searching for answers in the secondary, that alone makes him worth watching closely.<\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Las\t\t<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Raiders News<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tA very tough day at the office for one starter at training camp won\u2019t change the plans the Raiders have\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Raiders won\u2019t be moving away from Kirk Cousins as the starting quarterback despite throwing two red-zone interceptions.<\/p>\n

American Football<\/a> Hezekiah Masses<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders drafted Hezekiah Masses in the fifth round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":970869,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[265,7,76011,6,15],"class_list":["post-970868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-draft","tag-american-football","tag-football","tag-hezekiah-masses","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117080780299074182","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970868","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=970868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/970869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=970868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=970868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=970868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}