Raiders News: Jon Gruden Has Plans For Expanding Daryl Worley’s Role Moving Forward

With the Oakland Raiders on their bye week, they will finally have some time to regroup and refocus in preparation for the rest of the 2019 NFL season.

At 3-2, the Raiders have exceeded some preseason expectations as they have earned huge victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears. Despite the Antonio Brown saga prior to the season that dominated the talk around the team, Jon Gruden’s roster has responded well and is playing some good football.

What makes their wins even more impressive is how many injuries they have had to endure. Key players on both the offense and defense have already missed several games, but Gruden has found a way to make it work with the players on hand.

Their secondary has really stepped up in recent weeks and it appears Gruden trusts Daryl Worley to play at multiple spots moving forward, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area:

“Hopefully he can do that,” Gruden said. “We have a big picture [plan] for Worley. We think Worley is going to be a hybrid player for us. A guy that can play at safety, at nickel, at left corner or right. As we go down the stretch here I think Worley’s role is going to expand.”

Worley is in his second year with the Raiders and has proven to be a key rotational piece in the secondary for Gruden and defensive coordinator Paul Guenther. His blend of size and speed allows him to cover most players and allows for Gruden and Guenther to be more creative when deploying him on the field.

Karl Joseph and Lamarcus Joyner have also proven to be effective alongside Worley and it has resulted in some good coverage in recent weeks. The secondary was especially impressive in their game against the Bears as Chase Daniel was unable to find many windows to throw to his receivers, opting instead for underneath throws to his running backs and tight ends.

With the linebacking corps hurt and Vontaze Burfict’s suspension being upheld, the Silver and Black will really need to lean on its secondary if it hopes to contain opposing teams. However, they will definitely have their work cut out for them in Week 7 when they take on a rolling Green Bay Packers team.

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