The Oakland Raiders participated in a joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams on Wednesday, and after the session was completed, Raiders rookie safety Johnathan Abram said Oakland “learned we can play with anybody,” according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic.
The Raiders have high hopes for Abram, whom they selected with the 27th overall pick out of Mississippi State back in April.
Abram is expected to start alongside of Karl Joseph in Oakland's secondary and is coming off of a senior campaign in which he racked up 99 tackles, nine tackles for loss, three sacks, a couple of interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and five passes defended.
The 22-year-old actually began his NCAA career at the University of Georgia, playing in eight games and logging 25 tackles with the Bulldogs during his freshman year, but he then transferred to Mississippi State.
Due to NCAA transfer rules, Abram was forced to miss his sophomore season, so he debuted for Mississippi State during his junior year, totaling 71 tackles, five tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and two forced fumbles.
The Raiders are hoping that Abram can be a crucial piece of a defense that ranked 26th in the NFL in yards allowed and last in scoring defense thus past season.
Oakland won just four games in 2018 and has made just one playoff appearance since last making the Super Bowl back in 2002-03.
However, thanks to a busy offseason that featured the Raiders bringing in big names such as Antonio Brown, Oakland has high hopes heading into 2019.
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