Treydan Stukes has been an impact player in the Las Vegas Raiders' secondary to begin the 2026 NFL season, but unfortunately, he left Week 2's game early with a concussion. And now his availability is very much in question for the Silver and Black's Week 3 bout against the New Orleans Saints.
According to the Raiders' official injury report, Stukes did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday, as he remains in concussion protocol. Head coach Klint Kubiak didn't provide much additional detail during his Wednesday press conference, either.
"He's doing well. He's doing everything they're asking him to do, and that's all you can do when you're in the protocol," Kubiak said. "He's listening to the doctors, and we'll get him back when we get him back."
Well, if Las Vegas doesn't get him back before Sunday, then it will be in a significant bind against the Saints.
Why Raiders need Treydan Stukes in the lineup vs. Saints
In a simple sense, Stukes is just way better than anyone else that the Raiders currently have on the roster at shoring up the back end of the defense. That may come in handy against Tyler Shough, who leads the NFL in passing yards per game, and against weapons like Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson.
Jeremy Chinn and Isaiah Pola-Mao have their strengths as players, but being the centerfielder is not one of them. Stukes already proved his worth back there in Week 1 with a great interception and by diagnosing plays, communicating and coming up to make tackles against the run.
Without Stukes, the Silver and Black lose both a connector and someone who can reliably move around the defensive backfield and make an impact, whether it be as a coverage man, a run helper or even an occasional blitzer.
The idea of putting Chinn or Pola-Mao at free safety is a bit daunting against such a good New Orleans passing attack. But luckily, that is just one of the options on the table, and Rob Leonard appears to be a creative enough play-caller to find a solution that works.
Solutions to Treydan Stukes' potential absence for Las Vegas
Last week, when Stukes left the game, the solution was to put Pola-Mao in at free safety, but also to drop Chinn back into more of a free safety role. While the results weren't disastrous, the Los Angeles Chargers aren't a world-beating offense, and these two did give up a big 53-yard gain through the air.
So, to ensure that mistakes like that don't happen this week, one change that the Raiders could make is putting Taron Johnson back in more of a free safety role. He did work with the safeties this offseason and has the experience, communication skills and skill set to fill in in this bind.
Las Vegas has several players capable of playing the nickel with Johnson at safety, like rookie Dalton Johnson, or even Zeke Masses, who could play there if Darien Porter returns and takes his starting spot back on the boundary. That would be a way for everyone to coexist.
This way, Pola-Mao and Chinn could be in more of a box safety role, which plays to their strengths, and the Raiders can put another twitchy coverage player in the slot. This seems like a better idea that putting either Chinn or Pola-Mao in center field all game against a good vertical passing attack.
Honestly, there isn't a great solution to playing without Stukes, and surely Leonard has been sampling some personnel groupings to see what may work best. But it needs to work for the Silver and Black to pull out a win on Sunday.
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