Oakland Raiders at Houston Texans: 3 things we learned

Trayvon Mullen is up for the task

Since the Raiders traded Gareon Conley, Gruden has stated Trayvon Mullen is the next guy in line. In Mullen’s first start against the Texans he got flagged for an early hold, but then started to settle in. He played the majority of the first half, but then spilt his snap count with Nevin Lawson for the remainder of the game.

Ultimately, Mullen’s first game as a starting cornerback was a successful one. He recorded three tackles and had a ball tip off his hands in the first quarter as he almost picked off Watson. He finished the game without allowing any chunk plays which is all you can really ask for from a rookie cornerback in his first game being thrown into the fire.

Matter of fact, Mullen actually had a better game than Conley did for the Texans. Conley was burned on a few plays ran by the Raiders offense — one resulting in a Tyrell Williams touchdown. Overall, Mullen looks to be the guy on the outside playing opposite of Daryl Worley for weeks to come.