Does Las Vegas’ young position group have anyone who can crack the top 5 in the division?
After losing Nate Hobbs in free agency and letting Jack Jones go, two starters from last season, the Las Vegas Raiders have a lot of question marks at cornerback heading into the 2025 season. With third-year pro Jakorian Bennett and rookie Darien Porter expected to lead the way, corner is a young position group on the Raiders’ roster.
So, does Las Vegas have a cornerback who has a strong enough track record to crack the top five in the AFC West right now?
1. Pat Surtain II, Denver Broncos
2024 Stats: 4 INTs, 11 PDs, 45 tackles, 1 TFL
There’s no argument here. Surtain is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and widely considered one of, if not the best, cornerbacks in the entire league. He led the position in both overall and coverage grades from Pro Football Focus last season, posting marks of 85.6 and 87.4, respectively. On top of that, the four-year pro has been a quality player throughout his career, recording 10 or more passes defended every season, making the Pro Bowl three times and earning two first-team All-Pro selections.
2. Trent McDuffie, Kansas City Chiefs
2024 Stats: 2 INTs, 13 PDs, 59 tackles, 6 TFLs
McDuffie was right behind Surtain last year when it comes to PFF grades, ranking second among corners with an 83.1 overall grade and sixth with an 80.6 mark in coverage. Also, he’s managed to make two All-Pro teams (first-team in 2023 and second-team in 2024), and is coming off career highs in interceptions and passes defended. What makes that even more impressive is that the 2022 first-round pick switched positions last year, going from a nickelback primarily to a boundary corner. So, he’s also a versatile player and can impact the running game, posting PFF grades in the 70s in that department over the last two campaigns.
3. Tarheeb Still, Los Angeles Chargers
Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images
2024 Stats: 4 INTs, 10 PDs, 62 tackles, 1 TFL
With only 12 starts to his name, it’s a small sample size for Still. However, the fifth-round pick exceeded expectations during his rookie season last year by earning the third-highest PFF grade among qualifying (minimum 298 snaps) AFC West cornerbacks with a mark of 74.1. More impressively, he logged snaps on the inside and outside, hardly skipping a beat between the two positions. The Maryland product projects to primarily be a nickelback this season, as he finished 2024 with the lowest yards per coverage snap (0.61) when covering the slot in the NFL. The arrow is certainly pointing up for Still.
4. Jahdae Barron, Denver Broncos
2024 Stats (college): 5 INTs, 11 PDs, 67 tackles, 3 TFLs
Obviously, Barron doesn’t have any NFL experience yet, so it might be a bit ambitious to include him in the top five cornerbacks and ahead of the veterans listed below. However, he projects to play a prominent role in Denver’s secondary this fall. The versatile defensive back played all over Texas’ defense, recording a significant amount of snaps at nickel, on the boundary and as a box safety. That means the Broncos can use him on the opposite side of Surtain in base personnel, or to help take away the slot in nickel packages. Regardless, the rookie should have no problem making an impact in year one, seeing as he’s coming off a college campaign where he surrendered just 284 yards on 541 coverage snaps, per PFF.
5. Kristian Fulton, Kansas City Chiefs
2024 Stats: 1 INT, 7 PDs, 51 tackles, 3 TFLs
The fifth spot came down to a decision between a couple of teammates: Fulton and Jaylen Watson. Both players had similar performances a year ago, Fulton just did it on a bigger sample size with 760 regular-season snaps to 341 for Watson. The former Charger re-ignited his career in Los Angeles last season, posting a personal best 71.1 PFF grade during the regular season. Additionally, he gave up just 432 receiving yards, the fewest of his tenure in the league since his rookie season, when he played in nine fewer games and recorded over 300 fewer coverage snaps. As a result, Fulton projects to be the No. 2 corner in Kansas City this year.
Honorable Mentions: Jaylen Watson (KC), Jakorian Bennett (LV), Darien Porter (LV), Riley Moss (DEN)