ALAMEDA – No one would ever call Nnamdi Asomugha the loud type.
Soft-spoken and thoughtful, Asoumugha is the anti-cornerback. He replaces brash by dropping words in interviews that send reporters looking for dictionaries.
DeAngelo Hall has no problem stating exactly what he thinks without a filter.
He believes the Raiders have the NFL's best set of starting cornerbacks.
The Raiders won't be moving pieces around with their starting cornerbacks. Asomugha will man the right cornerback spot; Hall will be on the left.
Those two and their teammates, the Raiders hope, will give the team one of the league's best defenses.
Having talents such as Asomugha and Hall frees the Raiders from worrying about asking either to shadow an opposing receiver. They can just line up and cover whoever is in front of them.
No matter where that receiver goes, he'll run into an elite corner.
Hall likes being able to settle in on the left side. It's one of the reasons joining the Raiders appealed to him.
Chasing a specific receiver is "a headache" Hall said he would rather not deal with.
The Raiders' left cornerback was attacked repeatedly last season by opposing offenses, but that doesn't bother Hall.
Hall noted many right-handed quarterbacks like to throw to the left side of the defense. He relishes the challenge.
"I've been ready for it my whole career," Hall said. "I've been thrown into the fire since I'm 19. I'm 24 and I'm still ready."
Asomugha estimates he had about 30 passes come his way in 2007, about half the number of balls aimed at him in 2006 when he had eight interceptions.
He anticipates seeing more than two passes a game this season.
Hall has 17 interceptions in four seasons, so teams might be wary of steering clear of Asomugha.
"I know teams would be scared of him because he's been dangerous in the past," Asomugha said.
Asomugha said he's only been asked to shadow a specific receiver on occasions that opponent was giving the defense trouble.
With Hall, and Stanford Routt as the third cornerback, Asomugha doesn't think he'll be doing that.
"Whoever comes out, we should be able to check them pretty well," Asomugha said. "… If we have to, that's fine because this is what we do but I don't think it'll get to that."
Asomugha didn't make the Pro Bowl last season, in part because he didn't have the gaudy statistics that can come from being thrown at often.
Asomugha said he is eager to see what happens this year, starting with Monday night's season opener against Denver.
Hall and Asomugha agree on one thing. If the Raiders win, both will get all the attention they can handle.
"It doesn't matter to me if he leads with 10 (interceptions) and I get zero or vice versa," Hall said. "As long as we win games that's all I worry about. … It's not going to be just throwing the ball to one side of the field this year."
Read Jason Jones' Raiders blog at www.sacbee.com/raidersblog.
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