When Marcus Epps was lost for the season in Week 3's loss to the Carolina Panthers, many had concerns about how the back end of the Las Vegas Raiders defense would hold up without him.
Enter Isaiah Pola-Mao.
The undrafted free agent from the University of Southern California joined Las Vegas after the 2022 Draft and has slowly turned himself into a formidable safety at the NFL level.
Isaiah Pola-Mao wins AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award
In Week 16's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pola-Mao single-handedly changed the outcome of the game.
The third-year safety forced two fumbles in Sunday's victory over the Jaguars, and added 11 tackles, seven of which were solo.
Las Vegas has had a hard time causing turnovers this year, and had only forced two fumbles prior to the game against Jacksonville.
Pola-Mao doubled that number with his performance in a single game and was everywhere on the field in the win, which earned him the AFC Defensive Player of the Week Award.
Well deserved recognition for the @Isaiah_Pola_Mao
— Levi Edwards (@theleviedwards) December 24, 2024
The #Raiders 2022 UDFA has been a bright spot this season, stepping up for Marcus Epps going down. He’s the second defensive back in franchise history (since 1999) to record multiple forced fumbles in a single game. pic.twitter.com/HO5Hr3Xefu
The Raiders' safety comes from an NFL bloodline, as he is the nephew of NFL Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu.
He already followed in his uncle's footsteps to USC and made it to the NFL, and now he has a weekly award under his belt so early in his career.
Pola-Mao is still light years away from the career that the Steelers' great had, but if he can continue to put together performances like he did on Sunday, he could continue on the right track.
He is set to hit free agency as a restricted free agent at the end of the season, albeit as a restricted free agent, but the Raiders should make him a priority to resign.