Film room: Woo Governor’s preseason performance could lead to backup nickelback role

Undrafted free agent has looked sharp in preseason

Heading into the 2024 regular season, the Las Vegas Raiders need depth at cornerback which undrafted free agent Woo Governor might be able to provide.

The Northern Iowa product has been a solid nickelback during the preseason, earning a 68.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus with marks of 68.3 against the run and 67.2 in coverage. While he has allowed three completions on four targets, he’s managed to limit gains with only 27 yards surrendered and no missed tackles to potentially backup Nate Hobbs in the slot.

So, let’s flip on the tape and see what Governor can do.

We’ll start with one area of improvement for the rookie as defending slants has been his Achilles heel this preseason.

It’s third and short so the Raiders are in press man coverage. Against the outside release/stem from the slot receiver, Governor does a good job of maintaining his leverage by matching the receiver’s path. However, Governor’s pad level rises and he ends up on his heels while backpedaling which leads to separation when the wideout breaks on the route.

Staying low will help the corner transition and change directions and thus, stay in phase against slant routes. Also, he’s pretty strong and physical for the position, so jamming and getting his hands on the receiver near the line of scrimmage will help as well.

Moving to the positive clips, something that stands out about Governor’s game is he has good eye discipline in zone coverage. Here, Las Vegas is in Cover 3 and he’s responsible for the curl to flat zone/area.

While reading the quarterback, he recognizes the short out route by the slot receiver and opens his hips to take that away. Simultaneously, Governor continues to work for depth, putting himself in a position to help the boundary corner against the deep out from the outside receiver, effectively playing a part in covering two receivers.

So, the quarterback has to come off of his first two reads and check it down which leads to an incompletion on third down, allowing the defense to get off the field. Of course, the bad pass helps, but this is the throw the defense is willing to give up in this situation since it’s short of the sticks and both linebackers can converge on the ball.

Here, it’s second and 10 with the Raiders playing Cover 3 again and Governor in the curl-to-flat area. The Vikings have a good play call where the receiver finds the hole in the zone and sits in it for an easy completion.

The linebacker misses the tackle which could lead to a first down, but Governor makes a nice save to converge on the wideout and give the defense a fighting chance to get off the field on third down. This is part of the reason why he can be a decent slot corner, he’s a sure tackler who hasn’t missed in the open field yet.

This last clip is kind of a combination of the two previous ones and is smart situational football from the rookie.

There are about 30 seconds left before halftime with the Cowboys backed up in their own end, meaning the defense’s primary goal is not getting beat deep. So, even though he’s responsible for an underneath zone in this Cover 3 call, Governor carries with the outside receiver to help the boundary corner take away the deep route.

That forces the quarterback to check down and Governor does a good job of rallying to the ball and limiting this play to a seven-yard gain. The defense will take that the offense still has 78 yards to score a touchdown and even less time left on the clock.

The Northern Iowa product’s football IQ is something that stands out on tape, especially for a rookie.