Don't look now, but the Las Vegas Raiders appear to have a brand new entrant into the starting cornerback competition.
According to multiple beat writers, Kyu Blu Kelly was getting reps with the first-team defense on Tuesday. He also saw time with the second-team defense during the same session and managed to secure a pick-six off backup quarterback Aidan O'Connell, according to Levi Damien of Raiders Wire.
Tashan Reed of The Athletic reports that Decamerion Richardson and Darien Porter were the victims of Kelly's ascension, as his snaps came opposite Eric Stokes, who remains the biggest favorite to land a starting job on the boundary.
A former fifth-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2023, Kelly has appeared in 12 games over two seasons, playing snaps for the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers and Washington Commanders in 2023, and the Raiders in 2024.
Kelly's promotion to first-team reps comes on the heels of his impressive performance in the exhibition opener last week.
In preseason Week 1, Kelly posted the highest Pro Football Focus coverage grade on the team (84.0) and gave up just one catch for five yards on two targets and tallied a pair of pass break-ups and a passer rating against of 56.3.
Just when we thought we had a handle on who would be starting at cornerback for the Raiders, head coach Pete Carroll and Co. throw a curveball.
That has also been the case along the offensive line. Jackson Powers-Johnson was expected to start at center all offseason long but now appears locked in a competition at right guard with veteran Alex Cappa.
The Raiders have had a busy offseason at cornerback. Along with drafting Porter and signing Stokes, the team cut ties with last year's starter, Jakorian Bennett (trade) and Jack Jones (released), to completely revamp the room.
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