Malik Benson lined up Monday morning across from cornerback Darien Porter, knowing he had a go route to run at Intermountain Health Performance Center. The football was snapped to quarterback Kirk Cousins, the route was run and Porter’s coverage applied.
The ball was thrown in Benson’s direction — and plucked from the sky by the rookie wide receiver.
“I knew that no matter when I was going to get picked up, I was going to get an opportunity to show what I can do,” Benson explained an afternoon later before the Raiders practiced at Allegiant Stadium. “I got picked up by a great organization. So, each and every day, I just come with that chip on my shoulder to show everybody if you think I’m soft, then you’re going to have to come out here and find out.”
The Las Vegas Raiders are finding out Benson is speedy, quick, refined and physical during training camp with their preseason opener Thursday at Allegiant Stadium. Against the Arizona Cardinals, Benson is set to test the skills that have opened him over and over and over — rep after rep after rep after rep. As a sixth-round draft pick by way of Oregon, Alabama, Florida State and Hutchinson Community College, Benson is practicing his way up the depth chart.
Or so it would seem through 11 practices.
Said Raiders coach Klint Kubiak: “He’s a guy that can run and can make plays down the field. That’s really shown up. He’s still a guy that is a rookie that has plenty to learn about having to study and having to be a pro and contribute on special teams. But I see a really hungry young man that’s a team-first guy, and that’s what I respect about him.”
An accomplished high school sprinter and jumper hailing from greater Kansas City, Benson has brought more than straight-line speed to his first training camp with the Raiders. He’s beating defenders underneath with fleet footwork, nuanced releases and changes in pace — opening throwing lanes for Raiders passers, be it Cousins or top draft pick Fernando Mendoza.
Benson tallied a team-high 719 receiving yards last season as a fifth-year senior by way of a team-best average of 16.7 yards per reception. But Raiders wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni said thorough scouting — that included film review and conversations with coaches from Benson’s four post-secondary stops — determined Benson could be more than the deep threat he was at Oregon.
“I knew he had the skill set to (run crisp routes),” Azzanni said last week. “It just doesn’t always have to show up in college. Sometimes you just run real fast, which is what he can do. And then all the nuances in the game, that’s our job to teach him. … He’s got a long, long way to go, but I’m pleased with where he’s at because I knew he had the skill set to do it. Now he’s just got to be more consistent in doing it.”
Consistency in training camp has helped Benson earn snaps with the first-team offense, with which he was playing Monday morning — completing his catch through Porter’s contest. As a second-team staple he’s connecting with Mendoza, touting their friendship Tuesday afternoon. They met at the NFL combine in February and reconnected when Benson was drafted, he said.
At practices, they’re flashing conspicuous chemistry. Added Benson, also repping as a punt and kick returner: “When it comes to Sundays, when it comes to practice, he’s going to rely on me to be in that spot, and I’m going to rely on him to place the ball where it needs to be placed.”
For now, Benson’s first-team reps are infusing him with confidence as he learns additional tricks of the trade from starting wideouts Jalen Nailor and Tre Tucker. He said he tries to be “just like them” because “they don’t complain” and “they’re bought into the goals of the team.”
Uncovering and producing in the preseason are parts of Benson’s natural development because he’s already proven what he’s capable of in practice.
Over and over and over and over.
“For sure (I’m motivated by being a sixth-round pick), but honestly, I feel like I’ve always kind of been at the bottom,” Benson said. “I started at junior college and things like that. So, it’s just another steppingstone that God’s showing me that — yeah, you’re sixth round, but if you just come out here and work hard and do what you got to do, none of that really matters once you get drafted.”
Contact Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on X.
