The Las Vegas Raiders entered the 2025 NFL season betting on a handful of young, inexperienced players and one key reclamation project to round out their cornerback room. It's not like last year's group was world beaters, but they looked far better than this year's unit, on paper at least.
While Eric Stokes has been a pleasant surprise and is playing like a true No. 1 cornerback, Kyu Blu Kelly has struggled opposite him. Kelly is a great tackler and makes plays in the run game on the outside, but he's been picked on far too often by opposing quarterbacks. Head coach Pete Carroll even acknowledged this during a press conference ahead of Week 6.
Meanwhile, rookie cornerback Darien Porter has been emerging, as he got opportunities in a blowout loss, and while filling in for an injured Stokes. In his first start in Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts, he played incredibly well, and fans were ready for him to supplant Kelly in the starting lineup with Stokes returning on the other side.
Raiders fans don't get why Kyu Blu Kelly plays over Darien Porter
Unfortunately, that did not come to fruition at all. Kelly played 60 of the Raiders' 61 defensive snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, while Porter played zero. This was a senseless demotion for the first-year player, as it halted any momentum he had built through the last several weeks.
To make matters worse, it's not like Kelly suddenly played great. He was targeted six times and gave up four receptions for 50 yards against the Titans, and Cam Ward had an above-average passer rating of 92.4 when targeting him.
Calvin Ridley went to work on Kelly before leaving the game with an injury, but then Van Jefferson came in and made a few big catches on him as well. Kelly did make five tackles and two run stops, but he just has to be better in coverage, as he's given up 396 yards through the air this year, including 50 or more yards in five of the team's six games.
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Porter, by contrast, has played 99 defensive snaps, including 54 in pass coverage. He has only been targeted three times, according to Pro Football Focus, and given up one reception for nine yards. The reception? When he was the closest defender on Anthony Richardson Sr.'s deflected pass that turned into a catch, but Porter brought him down immediately.
Head coach Pete Carroll drafted Porter as a project, but with the state of the cornerback room, it stood to reason that he would throw the young rookie into the fire right away. But he hasn't, and he continued to gush during Monday's press conference about how well he thought Kelly played.
"Kind of a bounce-back game for him. He did a great job yesterday. (There have) been conversations about his play and all. I thought it was a really good game plan that Pat [Graham] put together to make sure that the corners were really a factor and effective," Carroll said. "He's a really good football player. You guys continue to see him make big hits and tackles. He'll continue to do that. We have hung him out. He has been out there on his own somewhat earlier in the year. We helped him a little bit more with some of the calls, and that's just a general part of our mix. He's such a good football player. He shows up when you give him chances. The perimeter passes that he makes the big play on, a couple tackles he had on the tackle on the tight end on the sidelines was a gorgeous play. So we're counting on him to keep coming on."
Obviously, fans are not cheering against Kelly, but they saw enough from Porter to want him to be getting at least some rotational reps alongside him. It makes Raider Nation wonder why the team is adjusting the game plan to help Kelly out, but seemingly won't do the same for Porter.
Again, Kelly has his strong points as a player, but he is not so infallible that he should be playing every snap, especially at the expense of Porter. Hopefully, this gets ironed out in Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs, but fans aren't hopeful after Carroll's latest comments.