What a disaster the Raiders secondary was early last season. Most of the snaps in the secondary the first three weeks were some combination of DJ Hayden, TJ Carrie, Neiko Thorpe, Taylor Mays and Charles Woodson. They were desperate for help. So, when former second round pick David Amerson was waived by Washington, the Raiders pounced, and after one week coming off the bench, the castoff was in the starting lineup.
By midseason it was clear that Amerson was a Godsend, which led many to wonder why in the world Washington would let him go.