Surprising name asserting themselves in Raiders’ position battle

After the Las Vegas Raiders traded cornerback Jakorian Bennett to the Philadelphia Eagles last week, the team has looked for their younger options to provide a spark.

Veteran free agent pickup Eric Stokes is currently slated to get one cornerback slot, leaving the other up for grabs. Third-round rookie Darien Porter and second-year cornerback Decamerion Richardson have both drawn rave reviews this offseason, giving the Raiders the confidence to trade Bennett. While a veteran option like Asante Samuel Jr. or Rasul Douglas is not off the table, the Raiders are showing great patience and giving younger players an opportunity to get themselves settled in.

However, another young cornerback on the roster appears to have taken the initiative as well.

Another player has entered the starting cornerback conversation for the Raiders.

After Tuesday’s training camp practices, Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers highlighted cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly’s impressive performance at outside corner.

“Stokes feels like he’s solidified as one corner [and]… Darien Porter looks like he’s in line to get that other job. I mean, he’s the one that’s been running [at] outside corner with the ones for the most time. But Tuesday, it was not something that snuck under the radar [and] we didn’t notice it. Kyu Blu Kelly was out there as the outside corner, and he was making plays,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast.

One of the plays Myers talked about was Kelly intercepting an Aidan O’Connell pass that looked like no one was going to get it. With an impressive performance like that to draw attention, Kelly has pushed himself at least somewhat into the conversation to play beside Stokes.