Raiders need Tre’von Moehrig to bounce back

In an up-and-down early season for the Las Vegas Raiders, one of the bigger surprises and disappointments has been the uneven play of second-year safety Tre’von Moehrig.

The 2021 second-round pick from TCU was extremely solid as a rookie and he looked like a foundation piece for the new regime. Of course, Moehrig can still be a big part of new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s unit. However, he needs to show improvement.

Moehrig has been beaten badly of late, against tight ends. In Week 7 he lost snaps to veteran Duron Harmon. According to Pro Football Reference, Moehrig, who missed two games due to injury, played 75 percent of the snaps against Houston in Week 7. Harmon played 100 percent of the snaps. He has been consistently playing more than Moehrig, but, against Houston, it was a big snap swing.

The Raiders are for sure not writing off Moehrig. Graham said the team will have patience with him.

“He’s a second-year player. When I look at the safety position, it’s similar to the quarterback spot on the other side of the ball. In terms of how do you improve? You got to get experience,” Graham said. “You got to see it. We could talk about it on the board, we could show the video, but until you see it through those eyes because there is a lot of field you are defending back there and then tying in the disguise we are trying to ask you to do, tying in the run fit, tying in, ‘Okay, I might get matched up on the receiver now.’ It’s through experience that he’ll grow and he’s still in the early part of his career, so I’m pleased with where he is heading right now and he works hard, he’s diligent and he knows he has room to grow and he’s working at it.”

It may simply be a matter of getting used to a new system and him missing two games with a hip injury didn’t help the process. Moehrig can be a solid player in 2021 under former defensive coordinator Gus Bradly and he can do it in this system. But, on the other hand, Harmon has played for this brass in New England and he has their trust, so we may see the veteran continue to get more play the first of the season.

In the long run, Harmon is 31 and is on a one-year contract. Moehrig is a young player who the team is invested in and who has a future. But he needs to show improvement.