With the first regular season unofficial depth chart for the Raiders, rookie Treydan Stukes as listed as the starter alongside Jeremy Chinn. His ascension to that spot seemed like that plan from the start when they selected him at 38 overall in April's NFL Draft. But though much of camp, it didn't appear as if it would happen anytime soon. Until, suddenly, it did.
“I felt like all of a sudden, it was sudden, and he was playing with more confidence," said Raiders DC Rob Leonard. "He was playing faster. And communicating loudly. And I think even he mentioned the other day it was somewhere in the middle of training camp, but, those are the decisions that they make to carry themselves a certain way."
It was the team's second preseason game where Stukes
really started to show up. He put up four tackles in the game, which was tied for third on the team and included an impressive tackle for loss in the open field.
“Speed. Closing speed. His ability to close is glaring," Leonard continued. "His ability to cover. Good tackler, good blitzer. He's a great top down player.”
That performance seemed to lead to him getting a promotion to the first team in the week of practices leading up to the team's final preseason game. And then Stukes got the start against the 49ers, signaling he had turned the corner in the eyes of his coaches.
"I've seen his confidence grow every day," said head coach Klint Kubiak. "You see his football IQ show up every day. Since first game, we were really excited about him going out and playing with his best foot forward."
Stukes finished the preseason tied for fifth on the team with 10 combined tackles. Showing off the physical abilities along with his intelligence that impressed the team so much in interviews, leading to his selection near the top of the second round.
Stukes replaces Isaiah Pola-Mao who has been the Raiders starting free safety the past two seasons. Now Pola-Mao will take on a different role as a part time player, coming in at safety when/if Stukes is needed at the nickel.
“Isaiah is one of the biggest keys in terms of a leader, what a great teammate should look like," Leonard said. "He is so supportive. He's the glue. The guys look to him, and he could be in there starting, Treydan can be in there, and he's just been awesome. But you can't talk about Isaiah without talking about the person.”
It's a role Pola-Mao is familiar with because it's one he played his first two seasons in Las Vegas since making the team as an undrafted free agent out of USC. And it also means reverting back to more special teams work which is how he earned his roster spot to begin with.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders DC reveals how Treydan Stukes won starting safety job
