Things could have gone a lot better for the Las Vegas Raiders in their preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals. It wasn't as concerning that they came out on the wrong end of a 27-14 score as it was that several obvious problems burdened the team throughout the matchup.
One of the most surprising of those issues was the play of the secondary, specifically, the Raiders' trio of young corners. Zeke Masses, Jermod McCoy and Darien Porter garnered a lot of praise for their play in training camp, but as fans know, it matters more what happens when the real games start.
And although Thursday night was a far cry from a "real game," it was a much better indication of how far along these three young defensive backs are than a handful of padded practices. Unfortunately, this group left the fanbase with a lot more questions than answers after a shaky outing.
Las Vegas Raiders' young CB trio struggled in preseason opener vs. Cardinals
Zeke Masses
Let's start with Masses, who was arguably the most talked-about player at camp. He set out to prove a lot of his doubters wrong in this matchup, and unfortunately, he didn't do that. Masses struggled in man coverage, getting beat on multiple slants, and he wasn't really perfect as a tackler.
It's not like Masses was a liability, gave up any big plays or was penalized, but this wasn't a particularly clean or effective debut. Nobody should be out on him yet, but this showing will probably slow the hype train down quite a bit and force Raider Nation to sober itself up when it comes to camp hype.
Darien Porter
Porter earned the start but didn't get a lot of run. Perhaps that means that he has a firm leg up on Masses at this point, but he also didn't do himself any favors to begin the year. On his first and only drive, he got beat on a route to the corner of the end zone and gave up a touchdown.
Isaiah Pola-Mao may have been a bit out of position, but it's unclear what the safety's responsibilities were on the play. For Porter, it was pretty cut-and-dried in man coverage, and he let Marvin Harrison Jr. get away from him. Hopefully, he learns from this mistake and bounces back.
Jermod McCoy
McCoy hasn't played a football game in nearly two years, so let's cut him some slack. But he still got picked on quite a bit by the Cardinals' bigger, more physical targets, as they ran two goal-line fades at McCoy, and he gave up a touchdown on both occasions. He also gave up another reception.
Clearly, McCoy has the fluidity and technique to mirror players, but he struggles with physicality at the top of the route and got burned a number of times because of it. He still has a long way to go in getting his sea legs, but Thursday wasn't exactly a great place to start or a confidence-booster.
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