Heading into the 2026 NFL draft, the Las Vegas Raiders’ roster could use a free safety and a long-term solution at nickelback. The Raiders could fill both of those holes with USC defensive back Kamari Ramsey.
Between his time with the Trojans and at UCLA, Ramsey was used all over the secondary. He recorded 1,756 career snaps with 728 of them coming at free safety and 556 over the slot, according to Pro Football Focus. Also, he has some experience playing as a strong safety, logging 364 career snaps in the box.
This past season, the USC product was lined up at nickel over 50 percent of the time and was a stingy slot corner, yielding just 128 yards in nine games and 0.96 yards per coverage snap, via PFF. The year before, he was predominantly a free safety with over 40 percent of his snaps coming on the backend of the defense, and finished the season as PFF’s second-highest graded Big Ten safety in coverage (88.1).
But beyond being able to wear multiple hats in the secondary, what could Ramsey bring to Las Vegas? Let’s flip on the tape and find out.
Ramsey’s man coverage skills and situational awareness stand out on film, and the clip above is a good example of both.
It’s third and seven and the Trojans are playing Cover 1, putting Ramsey one-on-one with the slot receiver to the wide side of the field. With the ball basically on the opposite hash mark, he wisely lines up with inside leverage pre-snap and maintains it once the ball is hiked. That takes away the middle of the field on the choice route, forcing the receiver toward the sideline and the quarterback to make a more difficult throw.
Then, once the receiver breaks on the out, the defensive back drives on the route and has the acceleration to get there as the ball arrives. While the pass is inaccurate, Ramsey puts himself in a position to make the tackle short of the sticks and prevent the first down, even if the wideout came down with the catch. Also, the contact is part of the reason why the ball hits the turf in this instance.
This next clip is similar to the last one, showcasing situational awareness and the ability to break on routes.
It’s late in the game with USC looking to close out the win while Michigan faces a fourth and four. The Trojans are in Cover 0, and the Wolverines dial up a quick game concept with all three receivers on the wide side of the field running slants.
That puts Ramsey in a tough spot as the nickelback. He doesn’t have safety help over the top, so he has to protect against getting beaten deep, but also doesn’t want to give up an easy completion for a first down.
So, Ramsey opens his hips a bit to be ready to turn and run against a vertical route while keeping his eyes on his man. Once the receiver breaks on the slant, the nickel makes a quick read to drive on the receiver and be in a position to make a play at the catch point.
Again, an inaccurate pass leads to an incompletion, but this is another example of the defensive back putting himself in a good spot had the ball been on target.
Another way that the UCLA transfer’s football IQ pops up on film is in his ability to quickly recognize and defend against screens.
Again, he’s lined up over the slot receiver while playing man coverage on this rep. Michigan comes out in a three-by-one formation, and once he sees the two slot receivers setting up for the screen—the inside slot running the bubble screen and the outside slot blocking off the line of scrimmage—Ramsey triggers downhill. That’s where his acceleration comes into play.
The 6-foot, 202-pound defensive back is on the smaller side, but he manages to build up enough momentum to defeat the block and funnel the screen inside into the defenders pursuing from the box. Granted, the wideout eventually gets outside on a second attempt. But Ramsey did such a good job of defeating the block that he’s in a perfect spot to get involved in the tackle for a short gain.
While this was just one of three ‘coverage stops’ that Ramsey registered last year, per PFF, he is capable of making impact tackles in the passing game more frequently, leading Big Ten safeties with 14 in 2024.
This time, we’ll see our subject playing a different role as a strong safety and near the goal line, but the result is more of the same.
USC is in man coverage again while Iowa calls a play-action pass. Ramsey is responsible for the tight end and sees the tight end block initially, so he takes a step downhill. However, he recognizes that something is up with the hard inside release by the wide receiver who isn’t trying to block him. So, the safety pulls up to transition into coverage, which helps him avoid getting picked.
Once the tight end releases, Ramsey’s able to get to the flat and breaks down to make the open field tackle. With a significant size disadvantage (over 40 pounds), he does give up an extra yard or two on the tackle attempt. But the defensive back manages to get the tight end on the ground short of the sticks, giving the defense a chance to get off the field on third down.
We’ll wrap up with a great play from the USC product as a free safety.
The Trojans show Cover 4 pre-snap, but rotate into Cover 3 post-snap with Ramsey falling into the deep or post safety roll. Meanwhile, the Hawkeyes dial up a play-action shot play with a corner-post route from the receiver on the wide side of the field.
The wideout does a decent job of selling the corner with his head/shoulders and by using a jab step at the top of the route, which gets Ramsey to bite, opening his hips to the corner or toward the sideline instead of staying square. However, the safety recovers by showing off some impressive hip fluidity to make a 180-degree turn to stay on top of the receiver and in-phase against the double-move route.
Even with Ramsey in a good spot, the quarterback chucks it deep anyway, giving the defensive back an opportunity to make a nice play on the ball, elevating to come up with a PBU. That’s impressive speed and athleticism to take away the post as the post safety, especially after biting on the receiver’s fake.
Ramsey ranks 78th overall and is projected to be a third-round pick on NFL Mock Draft Database’s consensus big board, as of March 31. That makes him an option for the Raiders with the 67th overall selection. However, if the defense is looking for a ballhawk on the backend of the secondary, expect John Spytek to go in a different direction.
The USC product didn’t have any interceptions and logged just two passes defended in nine games last season. Granted, he did have a couple of picks and nine PDs in 2023 and 2024 combined, but even that is underwhelming ball production. But if Spytek is looking for someone to hold down the free safety spot for a year or two and then be Taron Johnson’s long-term replacement, Ramsey is a strong option.
