The Las Vegas Raiders entered the 2025 NFL season with the perception that their defense was going to be a major weakness. Fans and those who followed the team were particularly concerned about the cornerback room after the new regime wiped the unit clean this offseason.
Instead of familiar faces like Jack Jones, Jakorian Bennett and Nate Hobbs getting the start, it would be Eric Stokes and Kyu Blu Kelly on the outside. While Stokes has looked like a premier corner throughout the year, Kelly started off the season like gangbusters before tapering off.
There have been multiple weaknesses throughout the Raiders' defense, and a handful of changes certainly need to be made. After several rough performances in a row, however, Kelly has proven that he is not a viable starting NFL cornerback, at least not on a winning team.
Kyu Blu Kelly should not remain a starter for the Raiders
Stokes sat out due to injury in Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts, which spurred rookie Darien Porter to get his first career start. If Stokes returns to the lineup in Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans, then Kelly should be relegated back to the bench in favor of Porter.
Porter saw just 33 defensive snaps over the first four weeks of the season, but he played well in that stretch, posting a 75.7 Pro Football Focus grade that ranked 19th out of 165 cornerbacks. Meanwhile, Kelly's 57.0 grade ranked just 100th among cornerbacks.
In Week 5, Porter continued to outplay Kelly when both were in the starting lineup, as the former's 62.4 PFF grade was above-average. Meanwhile, the latter's grade of 29.1 was the worst on the entire Las Vegas defense.
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To compare, Porter logged 38 coverage snaps and was only targeted twice, allowing one reception for nine yards. The reception attributed to Porter from PFF was when Colts backup quarterback Anthony Richardson Sr. caught his own deflected pass, and Porter made the tackle.
Kelly, by contrast, was targeted six times in the same amount of snaps and gave up four receptions for 90 yards and an opposing quarterback rating of 109.7. He was also called for pass interference, his second such penalty of the year.
This season, Kelly has relinquished 346 receiving yards in coverage, according to PFF, which is the most in the league, by far. The second-most is the Denver Broncos' Riley Moss, who has given up just 262.
Stokes should return against the Titans in Week 6, and Porter should be starting opposite him, as the Kelly experiment has failed. The Raiders' season has seemingly gotten away from them already, and the priority should be on developing players who figure to be with the franchise for the long haul.