The Las Vegas Raiders will have plenty of issues to address on both the coaching staff and the roster this offseason. That was evident during their Week 11 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football, as nearly everything that could have gone wrong did.
There are several problems, however, that the team could get a head start on fixing over the final seven games of the season. The most clear-cut issue is that their rookie class needs to be on the field more to properly evaluate their needs ahead of the offseason.
It is clear that rookie third-rounder Darien Porter should replace Kyu Blu Kelly as the starting cornerback opposite Eric Stokes, as the move would help the franchise in both the present and the future.
The Raiders cannot continue to allow Kyu Blu Kelly to start over Darien Porter
Coming out of the Week 8 bye, it appeared that the Raiders' coaching staff was finally prepared to make the move that the fanbase had spent much of the season pleading for. Porter was inserted into the starting lineup and played all 80 defensive snaps, relegating Kelly exclusively to special teams.
While the rookie did not have his best performance of the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he was much better than his counterpart had been over the first seven games. The arrangement did not last long, as four days later, Kelly received 35 defensive snaps to Porter's 26 against Denver.
Kelly initially responded to the benching well, as he turned in the best performance of his career, recording two interceptions against the Broncos. Although both were the result of poor throws by Denver quarterback Bo Nix.
The showing earned Kelly even more playing time in Week 11; however, he was unable to repeat his play, turning in another awful outing. ESPN's Benjamin Solak shared that, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, Kelly gave up 6 receptions on 6 targets for 87 yards and 2 touchdowns.
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Solak then noted that Kelly was benched late in the game in favor of Porter, as the rookie relieved Kelly after his second relinquished touchdown. His first came against star George Pickens, but the second came against Ryan Flournoy, a rotational player, at best.
Kelly's struggles were put on display under a national spotlight during the primetime matchup, as even Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe called out his poor performance in a post on social media.
"36 playing scared. He’s beat b4 the snap," Sharpe wrote.
Despite being benched late, Kelly finished with 47 defensive snaps compared to just 15 for Porter. Going forward, there is no excuse for that to be the case, as the latter has been the better player and needs all the reps that he can get at this stage of his career.
Through the first 10 games, Kelly has played 76.6% of the defensive snaps while Porter has played just 34.7%. Porter is still in just his fourth season at the position after being recruited to college as a wide receiver, so getting thrown into the deep end is critical.
The Raiders' focus should clearly be on the future, and allowing their young cornerback to develop should become a priority over the final seven weeks. Unfortunately, it may have taken a bad performance in primetime by Kelly to remind Pete Carroll and the staff of this.