Silver Minings: Cory Littleton on his journey to NFL stardom: ‘Find your value’

It’s not often undrafted players establish themselves as stars in the NFL. There’s maybe a few from every draft class. Though he isn’t a superstar yet, Cory Littleton is slowly becoming more and more of a household name.

Entering his first season in 2020 with the Raiders, Littleton spent his previous four seasons with the Rams. He’s been an absolute wrecking force on the defensive side of the ball over the last two seasons, as he’s racked up a total of 259 tackles. Additionally, he has 15 tackles for loss along with nine QB hits, five interceptions, two forced fumbles and 22 passes defended.

Based on that production, you’d think he’d be a first or second round kind of guy, right? Wrong. As mentioned, Littleton went undrafted in 2016 out of Washington. Through his first two seasons, he appeared in all 32 games but only got the start in five of them. It wasn’t until 2018 where he got his first opportunity and started all 16 games.

“My thing is always ‘find your value,’” Littleton said to the media on Sunday. “My start was playing special teams, that’s where my value was. I ended up making some plays out there and I noticed throughout the years that those plays change games completely and change the whole turn out and got us wins. That’s still a part of the game to this day.”

He started with a role on special teams, and then finally got his break break, proving he’s one of the more underrated players at position. His work with the Rams didn’t go unnoticed, as the Raiders signed him to a pretty good sized deal this offseason.

“It was a great feeling,” Littleton recalled. “Something that you work for every day when you come out on the field. Me coming to the Raiders, I just really wanted to continue my career and the Raiders seemed like a good fit for myself and they were open to me coming in and I’m just happy they made the decision to bring me in.”

In other Raiders’ links:

• Bryan Edwards is already turning heads at camp with his stellar play.
• Safety Jeff Heath discusses linebacker Cory Littleton, the importance of forcing turnovers on defense, quarterback Derek Carr, defensive back Damarious Randall and more.
• Inside the box: How the Raiders are staying cool in the Nevada heat.
• Raiders voted No. 14 QB/RB/Pass catcher trio in NFL.