The Las Vegas Raiders Have A Budding Star On Their Defense
Justin Churchill of A to Z Sports Las Vegas notes that Darien Porter is a player that could make a big leap in his second year in the NFL with the Raiders. With plenty of young talent all over the roster, Porter could cement himself as one of the best talents later this year.
Video Transcript
I think we can all agree that this rookie class that the Raiders have put together is very, very good, and the potential is kind of insane.
But there are still a few players from last year's class that, even though this coaching staff didn't draft, are still very good and still have really good potential.
And one of the guys that, a lot of people are expecting to see make a second-- a big second-year jump is Darrian Porter.
Why?
Well, it's another year at the position, and this is a guy that, let's not forget, went into college at Iowa State playing wide receiver.
He did not play a, a lick of cornerback until his last few years in college.
So he is kind of behind in that sense in terms of the development and, the technical side of things.
So it's important that Darrian Porter get the development that he needs at the position, and he's getting that this off-season.
Recently, Clinton Kubiak said, quote, "He's an ascending player that we are counting on, and he's just going to keep getting more confident.
He's got a great coach in Joe Woods and a great coach in Matt that's preparing him for the season to come."
And this is a guy that a lot of people are expecting to make a second-year jump because, you know, what we've already said, it's another year at the position, it's another year with this, with, this team in the NFL.
And Porter has all the tools to be a really good cornerback at this level.
It's just about putting it all together.
And of course, we say that all the time, but I mean, listen, he's fast, he's lanky, long, and the guy has the ball skills to play the ball in the air.
The technical things need to be better, though, whether it's playing man coverage, playing zone, pressing, all those types of things.
And I don't think anybody would disagree that, when it comes to Darrian Porter, this is a guy who really, really can be an elite cornerback in the NFL, but there's a lot of work that still needs to be done.
The second year, the potential for a second-year jump is there, though.
Now, if that happens this year or not, we'll see.
But if he doesn't make that jump, he's in trouble, because you've got guys like Jermaine McCoy and Hezekiah Massaquoi behind him that are showing that they could be starters this year if all goes well.
So the pressure is on right now for Darrian Porter.
Yes, it's only year two, but if he's not going to make that big jump, he might not ever make it because the guys behind him might, might end up being better right away.
But this is a good problem for the Raiders to have.
I mean, when was the last time that we can remember them having this many good young cornerbacks?
Obviously, we're not saying the cornerback room is elite yet, because it's not.
But when's the last time that you can remember the Raiders having really good young cornerbacks and a lot of them, like this?
