Analysis: Darien Porter could carve out major role for Raiders as a rookie

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

The Raiders brought in a full roster worth of players for their annual rookie minicamp over the weekend, but a few stood out above the rest during the one of three practices open to media.

Third-round rookie cornerback Darien Porter has to be near the top of the list. For starters, the 6-foot-4, 24-year-old Iowa State graduate towered over the rest of the defensive backs.

He also looked like the fastest player on the field, living up to his 4.30-second 40-yard dash time that turned heads at the NFL Draft Combine in March.

“Everyone’s excited, there’s a lot of juice going around,” Porter told reporters after practice. “Yeah, we made it to the NFL but now the thing is to stay here and make your mark here.”

Running back Ashton Jeanty, the No. 6 overall pick who showed off his sterling footwork in the session, is undoubtedly the Raider rookie most poised to shine immediately as a planned focal point of new coordinator Chip Kelly’s offense.  

But Porter might be sitting right behind him; it looks like the Bettendorf, Iowa, native will have every chance to make an impact from the onset.  

The Raiders have a lack of proven commodities in the defensive backfield, especially at cornerback. They recently waived last year’s No. 1 cornerback, Jack Jones, after having already allowed nickelback Nate Hobbs to leave and sign with the Green Bay Packers in free agency.

That left Jakorian Bennett, Decamerion Richardson, Darnay Holmes and Sam Webb as the lone returners from last year’s team under coach Antonio Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco. Bennett is the only one among the group who’s shown he can be a productive starter after a strong sophomore campaign before it ended early because of a shoulder injury.

But there’s always some uncertainty regarding how a new staff, like the Raiders’ group this year with coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek, feels about the holdover players.

At the least, the duo is inherently more invested in the players it brought in. At cornerback, that’s free-agent add Eric Stokes from the Packers and Porter.

“I think one of the cool things about Porter in particular is the collaboration between (the scouts) and Pete and the coaches and a vision for a player like that,” Spytek said. “That's incredibly empowering to the scouting department to be able to bring players that are unique like that to a coach and have them go, 'Hell yeah, I can work with that guy,.’”

Porter is a Carroll-type cornerback through and through with raw technique but undeniable physical traits. Since getting drafted, he’s repeatedly noted he has room to grow after only switching to the position from wide receiver two years ago.

But Porter has the tools to expedite the process considering he had the fastest times in the 10-yard split, 3-cone drill and 20-yard shuffle among cornerbacks at the combine.

Those performances saw his draft stock soar to the point where at least one team was reportedly trying to trade up to take him before the Raiders could.

Carroll is relieved that deal didn’t come to fruition.

“We’ve drafted a lot of corners over the years, and we’ve always looked for guys that are really long and tall because of the style of the way we coach them,” Carroll said. “And we've had some pretty good ones. The one thing I think about Darien, he's a lot like Richard Sherman was. Richard Sherman was a wide receiver at Stanford until (Coach Jim) Harbaugh kicked him over to the other side of the ball, and he had one year playing corner. There's a lot of similarities in the makeup of these two kids. Richard's history is pretty bright, so I have really high expectations for how this works out with Darien. He kind of fits the mold.”

Porter has mentioned Carroll’s development of Sherman with the Seattle Seahawks on multiple occasions, but he said his frame of reference for his new coach goes even further back. Some of Porter’s earliest memories watching football were of Carroll’s teams at Southern California.

Carroll took the Trojans’ job the year Porter was born, 2001, and stayed through 2009. He helped a handful of defensive backs get drafted there including most notably Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu.

But Porter has a different former Carroll pupil that he thinks is the best comparison for himself.

“He caught him at the end of his tenure in Seattle but Tariq Woolen,” Porter said. “I think athletically, I fit a little bit more Tariq than Richard Sherman. But I’m just looking to take all the coaching I can to get to the level of those guys.”   

Woolen was an unheralded fifth-round pick out of Texas-San Antonio in the 2022 NFL Draft, but he made the Pro Bowl as a rookie under Carroll’s direction.

Porter could have the same rookie-season ceiling.

He’s checked the box as having made a positive first impression at rookie minicamp and will look to continue in the right direction when the whole team reconvenes for offseason workouts starting May 19.   

“I know my best football is still ahead, but I’m here and I’ve done everything to put myself in this position,” Porter said. “I was drafted in the third round and I’m still learning so, for me, it gives me confidence.”