HENDERSON, Nev. -- Sometime near the middle of training camp is when Nate Hobbs planted his flag.

Sure, Hobbs had a sensational rookie season as the Las Vegas Raiders' slot cornerback, but he wasn't about to rest on any laurels -- real or imagined -- in the desert sun.

So when he looked across the line of scrimmage during one-on-one drills and saw no one really champing at the bit to cover Davante Adams, the best receiver in the game, Hobbs jumped. Figurative flag in hand.

"Nate's like, 'I want the rep,'" recalled Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. "He's not backing down. He's like, 'I want that challenge.'

"If it were up to Nate, he'd guard everybody. And I think that that's what you want out of a [defensive back]."

That attitude, and yes, results, are exactly what the Raiders will need out of their revamped cornerback room if they figure to have any semblance of defensive success. Especially in the high-powered AFC West, which saw a former Super Bowl champion quarterback (Russell Wilson) join the Denver Broncos to go along with a former league MVP in Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes and a rising star in the Los Angeles Chargers' Justin Herbert, who the Raiders face in the season opener at SoFi Stadium (4:25 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS).

Consider: Las Vegas allowed its best cornerback from last season (Casey Hayward) to leave in free agency and traded away a former second-round pick (Trayvon Mullen Jr.) who had been a career starter until injuries felled him last year. They essentially replaced them with Rock Ya-Sin (acquired from the Indianapolis Colts in the Yannick Ngakoue trade) and Anthony Averett, who was signed as a free agent after playing four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.

The old man in the room, as far as Raiders tenure goes, is Amik Robertson.

"I still look at myself as a young guy," said Robertson, a fourth-round draft pick in 2020 who hasn't recorded an interception in 18 career games. "I've only been in the league, I'm going into my third year, so I'm still learning, still growing.

"We want to just get better, really. Compete. And show everybody that we have the potential -- not yet -- but we can be a good group, overall."

It's a different feeling, Robertson said, with so many new faces. But the mantra from above is to simply focus on their individual jobs. And something else.

"We've got to win," said first-year defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. "The mentality I want them to have is to get better every day. Be good teammates and coworkers and work hard every day. That's what I'm looking for. ... I want them to go out there and compete."

As Averett, who started a career-best 14 games last season for the Ravens and intercepted the first three passes of his career, put it, the Raiders' revamped corners have something to prove -- if not to opponents, then to themselves.

"Dawg mentality, man," he said. "We definitely want to be bump-and-run, do a little bit of everything."

Bump-and-run, Averett said? With the franchise that boasted the godfather of the bump-and-run in Willie Brown? And has a rich cornerback history with the likes of Mike Haynes, Lester Hayes, Terry McDaniel, Charles Woodson and Nnamdi Asomugha?

Averett smiled.

"We are who we are," he said. "We're not trying to be like anybody. But, hey, [we] definitely respect those guys of the past, but it's a new group. New faces. We're excited."

Said Ya-Sin: "I feel like it's coached really well, and guys are competing and learning fast ... I mean, this is a really competitive room. A lot of guys always being sponges and trying to learn, competing every single day."

The trade of Mullen seemed to pencil in Averett and Ya-Sin as the starters. But the team's first unofficial depth chart of the season saw Hobbs and Ya-Sin as the starting cornerbacks in a traditional 4-3 scheme.

For what it's worth, a nickel defense is all the rage as a base these days, though Hobbs would relish the chance to play on an island.

"Really, most of my high school career and college career, I played outside," said Hobbs, a fifth-round draft pick from Illinois last year. "That's second nature to me. That's something I feel like I can do at a high level. But playing in the slot ... there is a lot more room. Playing corner, slot, whatever I got to play, safety if I've got to do that, it makes it a lot easier ... having a feel for multiple positions."

Like challenging Adams in one-on-one drills.

"It doesn't matter if Davante makes a play, Nate says, 'I don't care -- next play,'" Carr said. "And then, boom, he'll knock one down and that's the competitive spirit that you hope happens on your team. I mean, if I was guarding Tae all the time, my confidence would be shot. But these guys keep competing and Nate is always saying, 'All right, here I go.'

"... That's one thing I love and respect about Nate and I think that he's flashed a lot of talent and ability. Hopefully, it translates into the season for him, and he can have a good year."

As a group, Hobbs, Ya-Sin, Averett, Robertson and undrafted rookie Sam Webb have a combined six career interceptions. The chip on Hobbs' shoulder for feeling underrated, though, more than makes up for the relative lack of picks.

"Until I die," said Hobbs, the former three-star high school recruit. "Real talk, until I die. Where I'm from, I'm from Louisville, Kentucky, so I never got the chance to see anybody make it that far to the NFL with my own two eyes, or personally know somebody. It feels like that in all areas of Louisville; we are a real underrated city. I guess I was a creature of my habitat."

One with a flag that has already been planted.