The Las Vegas Raiders took safety Treydan Stukes in the second round, and he showed a surprising skillset on Sunday.
When the Las Vegas Raiders drafted safety Treydan Stukes in the second round this year, many observers were surprised. They saw Stukes as overdrafted, and the Raiders were also criticized for not drafting to fill other prominent positions of need with their second pick.
But Stukes answered his critics with a pick of his own against the Miami Dolphins in Week 1, which has many fans curious about him. Paul Gutierrez of Raiders.com did a piece revealing some intriguing facts about his journey and how he got to Las Vegas.
For starters, Stukes was a no-star recruit coming out of high school. He literally had more scholarship offers for track than he did for football, so he ended up walking on at Arizona, and he spent six years with the Wildcats thanks to a combination of COVID and an ACL injury, per Gutierrez.
Then he became a second-round pick of the Raiders, and now he’s an NFL starter. Stukes described his approach as “unique,” and he’s also one of those “trust the process” guys.
He’s also the only member of his ten-man draft class to start for the Raiders, and that includes quarterback Fernando Mendoza. But he showed out against the Dolpins, posting five tackles, a pass defense and a tackle on special teams while playing all 56 snaps on defense.
But Klint Kubiak wasn’t all that surprised. He saw a player who “took the practice field to the game,” which is one of his mantras. That’s been a big part of the coach’s approach with the Raiders going younger while overhauling their roster.
Stukes was also a three-time captain at Arizona, and coaches have praised him for his intelligence and communication skills, according to Gutierrez. He came in with a reputation as a ball hawk, but assistant GM Brian Stark praised his coverage skills along with his tackling ability, and he showed both of those against the Fins. He was among the tackling leaders in Week 1, joining the likes of linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker.
The pass he intercepted had a lot of loft to it, which gave Stukes a plenty of time to think about what he was about to do. Normally that’s a great formula for a drop from a rookie, but Stukes simply snared the ball and celebrated with his teammates.
New defensive coordinator Rob Leonard is trying to build an attacking defense, and that includes turnovers. It’s only one game, but Stukes appears to fit the formula, and he’ll try to duplicate his feat against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.
