Raiders 2025: Darien Porter a classic Silver & Black cornerback

Las Vegas’ 3rd-round pick another size, speed marvel for a team lacking explosiveness

The Las Vegas Raiders seemingly turned back the clock in the 2025 NFL Draft going with some size/speed selections that OGs in Raider Nation are all too familiar with.

This shouldn’t be all that surprising considering the must-have throwback traits that the Silver & Black made priority are similar to new head coach Pete Carroll’s preferred characteristics.

Take cornerback Darien Porter, for example.

At 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds with 4.3-flat speed in the 40-yard dash, his athletic profile makes him a classic Silver & Black cornerback. Add in the 33 1/8 inch arms he boasts along with being a wide receiver initially in his first three years at Iowa State, Porter also is a classic Carroll corner.

“We’ve always looked for guys that are fast, long and tall because of the way we coach them,” Carroll said after one of the Raiders OTA sessions this past week.

By The Numbers:
Darien Porter, Cornerback, Iowa State

• 2024: 12 games, 18 total tackles, 2 for loss, 3 interceptions, 2 pass deflections
• Career (2019-24): 36 games at cornerback (27 at wide receiver), 51 total tackles, 2 for loss, 3 interceptions, 6 pass deflections; 1 catch, 0 yards.

Cyclone Comparison

Porter’s defensive snaps gradually increased during his tenure at Iowa State with 2024 being the most productive. Porter earned 408 defensive snaps and racked up 18 total tackles, three pass deflections and a trio of interceptions. Opposing quarterbacks threw his way 15 times and Porter allowed a meager 26.7 percent completion rate.

With long arms and recovery speed to boot, Porter showcased the ability to shadow receivers and makeup for mistakes due to his fleet feet.

It’s the size, speed, intelligence, and former wide receiver traits that resulted in Porter garnering comparisons to another Carroll cornerback that blossomed under his tutelage: Richard Sherman. Carroll himself hasn’t shied away from the lofty comparison.

“There’s a lot of similarities in the makeup of these two kids,” Carroll said. “Richard’s history is pretty bright, so I have high expectations for how this works out with Darien, and he kind of fits the mold.”

And it’s easy to see.

Both are 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, Porter las longer arms compared to Sherman’s 32-inch span, and the former’s 40 time is much faster than the latter’s 4.54 time.

But Sherman parlayed the elite combo of size, length, and speed to become a ballhawk in the Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks secondary as a fifth-round pick and did so from the jump. Sherman had four interceptions and 17 pass breakups in his rookie year and after three seasons, the Stanford product snared 20 interceptions with 57 pass breakups.

Quite the lofty production if the comparison is to have merit, no?

(Of note: Sherman’s lone year as a cornerback at Stanford was in 2010 and he collected 50 total tackles with four interceptions in 13 games.)

Special Teams Ace

Porter’s game as a cornerback requires refinement — as it does with any prospect. While he has elite length and straight-line speed, Porter’s footwork needs smoothening as he appears very stiff when attempting to trigger when reading and reacting.

Porter does his best work in zone while his man coverage is adequate. His press needs to be more physical to play bump and run or trail technique and for now, he’s a boundary/perimeter corner who can matchup with bigger targets on the outside.

He’ll need to improve his footwork and hip turns if he were to slide in inside at the slot as his length and size matters little if he’s unable to match his straight-line speed to his short-area quickness.

But where Porter can contribute right away is on special teams. He’s showcased elite gunner production at Iowa State being a legitimate Cyclone with five blocked kicks in total — four punts and one field goal — during his collegiate tenure. His size, speed, and length can make him a terror of a gunner on punt return coverage — something akin to what wideout Mack Hollins provided when he was in Silver & Black. Avoiding the jam and sprinting downfield to either down the ball or limit return chances are going to make elite Raiders punter AJ Cole III that much better.

“I know the special teams coaches are excited too,” Raiders general manager John Spytek said. “They see him as being a good gunner. And I’ve already heard from AJ Cole, too. He’s going to be a lot better this year because he’s got this guy.”

It’ll be a disconcerting development if Porter isn’t a Day 1 special teams ace.

Speedy Secondary

Porter’s addition brings much-needed size and speed to a Raiders cornerback group that gets another fast defender.

Incumbents Jakorian Bennett (5-foot-11, 195 pounds) and Decamerion Richardson (6-foot-2, 188 pounds) clocked 4.30 and 4.34 40-yard dash times at their respective NFL Combine performances. Free agent flier Eric Stokes (6-foot-1, 194 pounds) clocked 4.25 and 4.28 times at the Georgia pro day in 2021.

Don’t be surprised to see any combination of those names getting work at the outside cornerback spots this offseason. The fight for the slot cornerback role merits watching, too.

With Carroll as the new head honcho along with his coaching staff, expect Las Vegas to give everyone an opportunity to showcase their wares and snaps and the roster overall to fluctuate this offseason. General manager John Spytek along with Carroll are trying to build a competitive roster and come 53-man cut down time, there’s likely to be plenty of movement then and in between.