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Defensive Notes

Marcus Peters

Opportunist joins inopportunistic secondary

The Raiders signed cornerback Marcus Peters yesterday, and seldom has there been a more compelling case of a team addressing its biggest need with the best option. Peters has been about the league's most opportunistic cornerback since entering the league, while the Raiders have had the least opportunistic defense.

Granted, Peters' best work came earlier in his career. He had 8 interceptions as a rookie (2015), then followed it up with 6 the next year. He had only 1 in 13 games for the Ravens last year, but was coming back from a torn ACL that wiped out his entire 2021 season, so he might not have been 100 percent. He turned 30 in January, so he's past his prime but not necessarily ready for the pasture. In his last full season (2020), he had 4 interceptions in 14 games.

Since entering the league, Peters has 32 interceptions (about 4.5 per season), and has returned 6 of those for touchdowns. Both figures are tops in the NFL over that timeframe. It's at least twice as many touchdowns as all but two players. (Data from pro-football-reference.com was used in compiling this table.)

INTERCEPTIONS, 2015-2022
PlayerPosGIntTD
Marcus PetersRCB104326
Xavien HowardRCB87282
Kevin ByardFS114271
Justin SimmonsFS103271
Tyrann MathieuFS120263
J.C. JacksonDB67251
Jordan PoyerDB111241
Darius SlayLCB122242
Harrison SmithFS119241
Quandre DiggsSS120232
Stephon GilmoreCB107232
Tashaun GipsonSS120201
Duron HarmonDB130201
Micah HydeFS112201
Jackrabbit JenkinsRCB99203
Minkah FitzpatrickSS79194
Patrick PetersonLCB120191
Jalen RamseyLCB108191
Marcus WilliamsFS86191
James BradberryLCB109181
Devin McCourtyFS128182
Malcolm ButlerLCB89172
Trevon DiggsLCB45172
Tre'Davious WhiteLCB78170
Casey HaywardRCB117161
Reggie NelsonFS59160
Ha Ha Clinton-DixSS82151
Kyle FullerLCB97150
Trumaine JohnsonLCB61153
Jessie Bates IIIFS79141
Tre BostonFS93140
Bashaud BreelandRCB91142
Rasul DouglasRCB89142
Kendall FullerLCB102142
Donte JacksonLCB64141
Eddie JacksonFS88143
Damontae KazeeFS78140
Marshon LattimoreRCB80142
Rodney McLeodSS108141
Kenny MooreLCB87141
Damarious RandallDB75142
Daniel SorensenDB119144
Earl ThomasFS60141

Then there's the Raiders. They have the fewest interceptions in the league over that same timeframe (80), and have been especially bad recently. Over the last six years, they have only 50 interceptions -- just over 8 per year. That's not only the worst in the league, it's at least 13 fewer interceptions than every other team. Terrible.

TEAM INTERCEPTIONS, 2017-2022
Team171819202122Tot
New England121825182319115
Buffalo18161415191799
LA Rams18181314191698
Pittsburgh1682018132095
Kansas City16151616151189
Minnesota14121715161589
New Orleans2012131818788
Indianapolis13151515191087
Miami921131814883
Tennessee12111415161482
Green Bay1171711181781
Seattle14121614111481
Baltimore2212131091480
Washington1615131611980
LA Chargers18131112111479
Dallas109710261678
Philadelphia1910118121777
Chicago827101081477
Tampa Bay1391215171076
Denver10171010131575
Jacksonville2111101271475
Houston1115123171674
Cleveland7171411131173
Cincinnati11121111131371
NY Giants1316101115671
Atlanta8151212121069
NY Jets1113121071265
San Francisco102121292065
Arizona157711131164
Carolina101314791063
Detroit19777111263
Las Vegas5149106650

Working on the defensive story for the magazine, I was actually kicking around the idea of the Raiders being a deep sleeper defense. I thought better of it; they didn't make it into the final top 20. They've just been too ineffective for too long. But I considered them because they were at least better in some areas the second half of last season than the first (for example, they had just 10 sacks the first nine games, compared to 17 in the final eight -- still below-average, but improved). With a healthy Peters on the roster, they should definitely finish with more than 6 interceptions, too.

Not that anyone should be selecting the Las Vegas defense, but let's give them some props for perceiving a glaring need and signing a player who can perhaps help fix it. That counts for something.

--Andy Richardson

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