The Las Vegas Raiders re-tooled their secondary this offseason under new head coach Pete Carroll. After his legendary "Legion of Boom" defenses with the Seattle Seahawks, it only seemed right to let the veteran coach create the group in this image.
This meant to departure of all five starting defensive backs from last season, but general manager John Spytek was able to bring in some new, exciting pieces, highlighted by Jeremy Chinn, Eric Stokes and Darien Porter.
When depth piece Lonnie Johnson Jr. went down with an injury, however, the team signed veteran safety Terrell Edmunds. While this piece will certainly help the secondary, it could mean the end of the road for a recent Raiders draft pick.
Raiders' Terrell Edmunds signing could push Trey Taylor off the roster
Las Vegas selected safety Trey Taylor from the Air Force Academy in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft. He won the Jim Thorpe Award in 2023, which is given annually to the best defensive back in college football, so the hype surrounding him was high despite his late selection.
Unfortunately, he failed to make an impact during his rookie season after dealing with injuries, and now, he seems to be on the brink of the roster once again. With Chris Smith II reportedly the first safety to rotate in, and Edmunds now in the fold, Taylor could be the odd man out.
There is a high likelihood that the team will keep five safeties, however, and they do not need someone outside of Chinn, Edmunds, Smith and Isaiah Pola-Mao. Taylor certainly fits the mold of a Carroll defensive back at over 6 feet tall and having 32 and 1/8-inch arms.
RELATED: Raiders release recent Broncos draft pick to make room for former first-rounder
While Taylor made three tackles in the team's preseason opener against the Seattle Seahawks, he also missed a few tackles and was not in the right spot on a few occasions. He earned an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 35.2, which was tied for 38th out of 41 qualifying players.
Chinn was not much better, but this was more of an off game for him than a sign of what is to come. Smith and Thomas Harper, however, both finished in the middle of the pack or better, and these two are his main competition to make the roster.
Carroll and Spytek have made it abundantly clear this offseason that they are not bound to the decisions of previous regimes and that the best players will play, regardless of where they came from. Taylor could be collateral damage of a change in leadership, thanks to the team signing Edmunds.