Raiders Roster Evaluation: Keisean Nixon
The 2021 NFL Draft is now behind us, and that means teams across the NFL are in the process of piecing together their entire rosters.
The Las Vegas Raiders are likely no different before what could be a pivotal fourth season of the second Jon Gruden era.
That's why we'll be going over roster evaluations for the Raiders players and position groups to see how everyone's stock measures up heading into training camp.
Cornerback Keisean Nixon didn't get a lot of chances to show his skill when he was in college at South Carolina.
He played only 16 games between the two seasons in 2017 and 2018, missing all of his freshman and sophomore seasons.
Nixon had two interceptions in four games in 2017 and then had nine passes defended in a full-time role in 2018.
He would end up going undrafted in 2019, and would then sign with the Raiders where he's stuck since.
Nixon hasn't got substantial playing time on the Raiders defense in that time span, topping out at playing 14 percent of the snaps last season.
He did start his first game last season, and he's been active for at least 14 games in each of his first two seasons.
Being primarily a special teams player has been what's kept him active, as he's played 60 percent of the Raiders' special team's snaps in his career.
That could be the difference in a player like Nixon being cut at some point or not, especially if he's not seeing a lot of time on defense.
Being able to play special teams is a key skill to have for players to stay in the league, and if Nixon continues that, along with honing his coverage skills, he could continue to have a role with the Raiders.
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