Eric Stokes and Kyu Blu Kelly didn’t come off the field in the Las Vegas Raiders’ season-opening road win against the New England Patriots this past Sunday.
So much for the cornerback rotation head coach Pete Carroll hinted would happen, eh?
At least, for one game.
Stokes, who had locked down a starting outside spot from the onset, logged 71 defensive snaps in Week 1, as did Kelly, a surprise riser in the offseason. While Stokes (26 years old, in his fifth year, and finished with five total tackles
and stop for loss in the opener) was a mainstay as a starting corner, it was the spot opposite him that was wide open.
For a good portion of camp, 2025 third-round pick Darien Porter was the tag team partner on the opposite boundary of Stokes. Instead, Kelly (24 years old, in his third year, and finished with nine total tackles and a pass deflection) got the starting nod while Porter didn’t play a lick on defense and instead notched 20 special teams snaps.
“He did a nice job. He got challenged. They went after him. They throw the ball a lot to the split inside, and he wound up over there. He had some challenges,” Carroll said when asked about Kelly’s performance. “I totally disagreed with the PI on the play. I thought it was a heck of a play that he made. He was on guys the whole time, and he tackled well and supported well out of the secondary, and the secondary contained situations, and when the ball bounces to the corner, he was there. I thought he played a really nice game.”
Fitting The Bill
With the size and speed profile that meets the Carroll requisites (6-foot-1, 4.28 second 40-yard dash timed speed, and 32 3/4 inch arms), Stokes not leaving the field in the Week 1 win isn’t surprising. The 71 snaps in the opener represent the second-highest defensive snap count in his career. He logged 72 in his rookie season with the Green Bay Packers (who picked him 29th overall in the 2021 draft).
He’s long been light in the takeaway department since entering the league (one interception which he snagged as a rookie in 2021) and he has a penchant to play his defensive assignment versus the ball. But Stokes has the coaching staff in Las Vegas behind him and a clean bill of health. That’s something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
For Kelly, the 71 defensive snaps represents the most he’s played since entering the league as a fifth-round pick by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 draft. His previous high, in terms of defensive snaps per game, was 17 for the Washington Commanders back in 2023 and then 14 for the Raiders last season.
At 6-feet, 188 pounds, and 32-inch arms, Kelly fits the Carroll profile, albeit at a slower speed (4.52 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine).
The Stanford product played well and wasn’t a liability in coverage. Kelly displayed a willingness to mix it up defending the run, getting down and dirty. Kelly also showcased good makeup speed, eyes on the ball, and swatting it away from Patriots wide receiver Mack Hollins on a 4th day play, however, he was flagged for defensive pass interference.
Rotation Still Possible?
“In a state of flux” was a nice way to sum up the Raiders cornerback room once the dust cleared from cutdown day and the season opener descended upon us. The names: Stokes, Kelly, Porter, Darnay Holmes, and Decamerion Richardson doesn’t necessarily strike fear into opposing offenses or instill confidence in Raider Nation.
But here we are. Although, clarity appears on its way.
Stokes and Kelly need to maintain their respective high level of play, lest they be surpassed by equally hungry and eager cornerbacks on the roster. Like the two starters in Week 1, Porter and Richardson boast the size and speed at 6-foot-2 and clocking in 4.30-flat, and 4.34 timed speed, respectively.
Holmes, meanwhile, at 5-foot-10 and 198 pounds has the look of a mainstay at slot cornerback when Las Vegas doesn’t deploy the big nickel look that has safety Jeremy Chinn dropping down and covering inside.
Carroll is all about competition and that doesn’t end after camp.
“I don’t know. We haven’t really nailed that one, what it was, but there was a shift,” Carroll explained when asked what switch flipped for Kelly. “Coming out of the offseason, I didn’t see it coming. I didn’t see it because he was kind of bouncing around different spots a little bit, played a little bit of nickel and all that. But it was about now probably three weeks ago that there was some clarity here, that something’s happening. And there’s rumblings coming on where 36 was playing, and so we just gave him more chances. Didn’t we start him in the third preseason game? Yeah, that was in response to how he had picked it up to see what he looked like. And he’s just done a really, really good job.”
Extra Points
Joining the all-snap club on defense in Week 1 were: Defensive end Maxx Crosby (unsurprisingly), safeties Isaiah Pola-Mao and Jeremy Chinn, and linebacker Devin White. Fellow linebacker Germaine Pratt played 92 percent of the snaps (65).
Offensively, the starting offensive line and quarterback Geno Smith didn’t come off the field notching 63 snaps. Wide receivers Jakobi Meyers (59) and Tre Tucker (57) rarely came off the field and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty logged 54 snaps.
Over on special teams, linebackers Tommy Eichenberg and Cody Lindenberg played 24 snaps apiece (83 percent of the group’s total) with cornerbacks Porter and Richardson each logging 20 snaps.
