Healthy Johnathan Abram might be problem for Raiders foes

In some ways, the Raiders are getting an extra first-round pick this year. That would be second-year safety Johnathan Abram, who missed all but the first game last year.

The former Mississippi State star was a first-round pick in 2019 before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.

Now fully healthy, Abram is ready to give the Raiders everything they were expecting last year.

The Raiders are more than eager for their punishing safety to patrol the back end of their defense, albeit with a bit of caution given his injury history.

“He looks great,” Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said. “Again, he played 30 minutes for us last year, so he’s kind of going through it again like a rookie year. He’s picked up the system in the second year, looking at it from the 10,000-mile view last year, sitting back and watching everything happen.”

Of Abram, Guenther said, “Obviously, he’s good in the middle of the field. He’s an enforcer down in the box. He’s a good blitzer. And he’s a vocal guy out there, which we need for his leadership in the back end.”

The Raiders signed veteran Damarious Randall to play alongside Abram, and the free-agent pickup is already picking up on a rising star.

“I honestly do not think there is a sky for him,” Randall said. “I mean the sky is definitely the limit. … Just looking forward to seeing him in live-action.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.