A couple of seasons ago, the Oakland Raiders thought they had a tandem of corners in Sean Smith and David Amerson who were going to help lock down the opposing passing game. After Amerson’s breakout 2015 season and Smith’s reputation coming in, it seemed like a reasonable belief at the time.
Yet, here we are in the 2017 offseason and Oakland has fielded one of the absolute worst passing defenses in the NFL after lavishing mammoth contracts on the pair.
Smith rallied late last year – mostly after the firing of Ken Norton Jr and subsequent elevation of John Pagano – and put together better performances on the field than had since he signed.