Raiders rookies, first year players and quarterbacks hit Napa today for the pre-camp warmup. Everyone else arrives on Friday. The excitement is building. And it puts us 48 days from the season opener. Today, like every day of the countdown, we look at the man wearing number 48 for the Raiders right now.
LB Najee Harris
There isn’t a lot out there about Harris. If his name sounds familiar it’s because there’s a very good running at Alabama by the same name. This Najee Harris is a linebacker out of Wagner College.
Harris was discovered by Raiders scouting coordinator, Teddy Atlas III who grew up a few blocks from Wagner college in Staten Island New York.
A team captain for the Seahawks, Harris received an invite to the Raiders’ rookie minicamp where he impressed coaches enough to sign him. As a former defensive back, the 6-1, 220-pounder excels in coverage from the outside linebacker spot — something we all know they’ve struggled with for some time.
Obviously Harris will have his work cut out for him, but he’s already impressed his coaches once. We’ll see if he can do it again and attempt to climb the depth chart.
Who wore it best: CB Lionel Washington (1987-94, 97)
Lionel Washington had a long 15-year NFL career, most of which as a Raider. His career started in 1983 as a 4th round pick by the St Louis Cardinals. After four seasons there, he joined the Raiders where he would spent the next eight seasons. From 1989-93 he was an everyday starting corner for the Raiders.
In 1995, the Raiders' first season back in Oakland, Washington joined the Broncos where he spent two seasons. At the age of 37, he returned to the Raiders for one final NFL season before retiring. In 122 games with the Raiders and 99 starts he had 19 interceptions. He also appeared in 5 playoff games. 12 years later, he would join the Raiders as a defensive backs coach for the 2009-10 seasons.
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