Las Vegas Raiders fans fell in love with Isaiah Pola-Mao during the 2024 NFL season. The undrafted free agent from a royal NFL bloodline grinded his way onto the roster and carved out a role before becoming the starter when Marcus Epps went down with a season-ending knee injury.
And he performed well enough that when the new regime of John Spytek and Pete Carroll came to town, one of the first things that they did was hand him a two-year, $7.45 million extension. But Pola-Mao, unfortunately, didn't come close to living up to that last season.
Players have down years all the time, and it is hard to blame any one cog for the failure of a machine that was the Raiders under Carroll and Co. But fans have been calling for the team to upgrade from Pola-Mao all offseason with the addition of someone who can better play the deep safety spot.
The selection of Arizona's Treydan Stukes in Round 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft is definitely a way to address that.
Raiders' Treydan Stukes pick should push Isaiah Pola-Mao out of starting lineup
Stukes is a versatile piece in the secondary who primarily lined up as a slot cornerback in college and spent most of the rest of his time as a box safety. But the consensus among NFL personnel is that Stukes can be a ball-hawking free safety in the pro ranks, in addition to many other things.
His ability to do so changes the outlook for Pola-Mao, as he may now be relegated to a reserve role. In all honesty, Pola-Mao's skill set is better suited to be a strong safety or play in the box in a big nickel role. The only problem is that Jeremy Chinn is currently occupying that space.
Pola-Mao probably wants to return to doing what he's good at, and Stukes potentially moving into the free safety role can actually be a positive for him. If Rob Leonard mimics his old mentors like Mike Macdonald, then a variety of three-safety sets could be in play, and his strengths can be played to.
The starting lineup in Las Vegas, as far as the secondary goes, will probably now consist of Eric Stokes and Darien Porter on the boundary, Taron Johnson in the slot, and Chinn and Stukes holding down the safety spots. That's a great group, and Pola-Mao is a valuable piece to rotate in.
But the 2025 season proved that, although he has his strengths and talents, Pola-Mao cannot be entrusted to be the last line of defense. Too often, he got beat or missed tackles when it mattered and was a key part of the Raiders giving up big plays. Stukes is here to fix that.
Regardless of how it actually changes Pola-Mao's role in practice, it is not a stretch to say that he was the weakest link on the Raiders' defense after the addition of Johnson in theory. No matter how they slide the pieces around, Stukes should be a Day 1 starter, casting Pola-Mao to the side.
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