Las Vegas Raiders make Damon Arnette St. Thomas Aquinas’ latest first-round pick
The St. Thomas Aquinas pipeline to the NFL continues.
Cornerback Damon Arnette, a former standout for the Raiders who won a state title as a senior before becoming a starting cornerback for the Ohio State Buckeyes, was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders with the 19th pick of the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday.
Arnette, a redshirt senior, played 53 games (38 starts) for an Ohio State team that won the Big Ten each of his final three seasons in school. He recorded 140 tackles, five interceptions and 22 pass breakups during his career.
“I consider myself one of the best players in the draft, so I feel like the best players go in the first round,” Arnette said. “So I wouldn’t say I’m surprised. But I’m definitely thankful for it and grateful for the opportunity.”
He considered entering the draft in 2019 but opted to return to Ohio State for a fifth year after talking with Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver and former Ohio State standout Cris Carter.
It paid off. Arnette earned second-team All-Big Ten honors this season after recording 35 tackles, a forced fumble and a 96-yard interception returned for a touchdown. ESPN’s Todd McShay ranked Arnette as the fourth-best corner in the draft.
“I’d say where I improved was really in my mentality on how I approach certain situations on the field, off the field and everything,” Arnette said. “Once I got my mind right, everything else just fell in line.”
Arnette, 6-0 and 195 pounds, was the second Ohio State cornerback selected in the draft this year. Teammate Jeff Okudah was taken with the No. 3 overall pick by the Detroit Lions.
“I’m more confident,” Arnette said at the NFL Combine. “I feel like I’m more technically sound. That dawg in me that I had, I feel that’s just who I am now instead of being it sometimes. I’m smarter. I’m more mature on and off the field. And I feel like overall I’m just more ready now than I was last year.”
NFL analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his prospect breakout that Arnette has “NFL size and strength but a lack of fluidity and burst that might make him best-suited as a zone corner. Arnette will be at a disadvantage against vertical jackrabbits and will struggle to stay connected to NFL routes in man. However, he plays with good awareness in space and has the physicality in run support that zone defenses look for. His potential and success could be directly tied to what a team asks of him, which makes his evaluation and grade more of a sliding scale depending upon scheme fit.”
But before he was a Buckeye, Arnette was part of a St. Thomas Aquinas program known for breeding NFL talent. He was a key member for St. Thomas’ defense as a senior in 2014. That team went 15-1 and capped its season with a 31-0 shutout win over Kissimmee Osceola in the Class 7A state title game. The Raiders outscored opponents 680-96 that year and gave up just 20 points in five playoff games.
Arnette is the 28th St. Thomas Aquinas player to be drafted and the fifth to go in the first round. The others: Nick Bosa (No. 2, 2019), Joey Bosa (No. 3, 2016), Phillip Dorsett (No. 25, 2015) and Michael Irvin (No. 11, 1988).
The Fort Lauderdale private school had an NFL-high 13 players on rosters to start the 2019 season.
This story was originally published April 23, 2020 at 10:37 PM.
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