The Las Vegas Raiders entered the preseason with several questions at cornerback. That's because their three starting players at the position from last season are no longer in Las Vegas, as Nate Hobbs left in free agency, Jack Jones was released and Jakorian Bennett was recently traded.
While the team found replacements on the outside, they clearly have little faith in the slot. The team re-signed Darnay Holmes and added undrafted free agent Greedy Vance Jr., who has caught some attention, but Las Vegas has been employing primarily safeties in the slot in nickel packages.
Neither player, despite them clawing for a roster spot, has played more than 14 snaps in a preseason game. So, these two players were already facing an uphill battle with roster cuts looming next Tuesday, and they got dealt another difficult blow this week in practice.
Raiders using Kyu Blu Kelly as slot CB could be bad news for other players
Raiders.com reporter Levi Edwards noted after Tuesday's practice that Kyu Blu Kelly is making a case to be the team's starting nickel cornerback. This came as a shock because Kelly has been playing exclusively at outside corner in camp, competing with Darien Porter and Decamerion Richardson.
The writing could now be on the wall for both Holmes and Vance. Initially, it seemed like the Raiders were fascinated with using a third safety instead of a third cornerback when putting five defensive backs on the field, but now it seems like the two are falling even further out of favor.
Las Vegas still needs to keep at least five cornerbacks, so someone has to stick around outside of Kelly, Porter, Richardson and Eric Stokes. Sam Webb, John Humphrey and JT Woods are unlikely to make a serious push, but they could easily look for help outside of the building.
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Holmes was used in a unique way during the preseason, blitzing four times on just 27 total snaps. Vance, however, garnered more hype from reporters throughout training camp and the preseason, but this is not necessarily an indication of how Pete Carroll and John Spytek feel about him.
Based on various offseason reports, how things have unfolded through two preseason games, and the news that Kelly is now rotating in and playing in the slot, a world where Holmes and Vance both make the roster feels far away.
Las Vegas has one more preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday to fully hash things out, but then a series of tough decisions will be made early next week. Hopefully, they can both stick around in some capacity, even if its on the practice squad.