The Las Vegas Raiders made quite the gamble this offseason when they parted ways with all five of their starters from the previous year's secondary. Head coach Pete Carroll was supposed to be a savant with defensive backs, but the results have been fairly mixed during the 2025 NFL season.
Eric Stokes has enjoyed a resurgence at cornerback, and safety Jeremy Chinn is proving to be a free agency steal. But Isaiah Pola-Mao has played the worst football of his career in a true free safety role, and Kyu Blu Kelly's issues continued to mount at cornerback opposite Stokes.
Despite these issues, Las Vegas has still been hesitant to give third-round rookie cornerback Darien Porter a full chance at being the starter. But he has continued to have great showings, including one against the Denver Broncos in Week 14, proving that he is the Raiders' cornerback of the future.
Darien Porter is showing signs of being a top-flight NFL cornerback
Porter ended up playing 69 snaps in the AFC West bout on Sunday, and he had the tall task of lining up against star Broncos wideout Courtland Sutton. When covered by Porter, Sutton was targeted only five times in the contest and had just two catches for 23 yards, according to Pro Football Focus.
Of those three incompletions, Porter had incredible pass breakups on two of them. Porter did give up a short completion to Pat Bryant, which he took for 11 yards, but only relinquishing three catches for 34 yards amid all of the chaos around him is a great performance for the rookie.
Ted Nguyen from The Athletic put together a cutup of Porter's best plays against Denver on Sunday, and it is a sight to see. Raider Nation has to feel excited watching this young star flourish, but at the same time, frustrated that it took the team so long to get Porter into the rotation.
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Obviously, rookies need to be up to the task before being thrown into the fire, but at no point this season has Porter looked outmatched. It seems like the only time he gives anything up is when an opposing quarterback makes a pinpoint throw or a wideout makes a circus catch.
This isn't just perception. When looking at his résumé this season, Porter has given up just 12 catches in 184 coverage snaps. Of the 130 receiving yards he has relinquished, only 28 of them have come after the catch, which means that Porter is sticky in coverage and not allowing separation.
For a player who has only been playing at cornerback since 2022, Porter is on a fast track to stardom. It should go without saying, but we'll say it again anyway: the Raiders' cornerback of the future is glaringly obvious, and it's Darien Porter.
Yes, Stokes has looked great this season, and Kelly's ball skills are a promising thing for him to ride home about. But Porter has the most upside in Las Vegas' cornerback room, and if he continues on this trajectory, he may very well become one of the best coverage guys in the league.