The injury bug has hit the Raiders defense early this season. They lost edge rusher Malcolm Koonce just before the season opener, then they lost Divine Deablo to a concussion while Maxx Crosby was slowed by an ankle injury in Week 2, and last week they saw starting safety Marcus Epps go down for the season with a torn ACL.
Replacing the contributions of most defensive starters would be a tough task. Perhaps impossible, especially with regard to Crosby. But if there was one position they may be well equipped to replace a starter it is the safety position.
That’s because perhaps their best looking non-starter coming into this season is Isaiah Pola-Mao.
“He’s been around the ball quite a bit,” head coach Antonio Pierce said of Pola-Mao. “Really good special teams player. And he’s really been that third safety for us so there’s been roles for him either it has shown up in the game or in practices he’s been repped a lot.
“So, we feel very confident to be honest with Isaiah. Thought he was ready to take the next step this year anyway, bur we really felt good with Marcus Epps and Tre’von [Moehrig] that ‘ok, we’ve got two solid starters there now’ and obviously with the injury to Marcus, next man up mentality, but obviously it’s no flinch no blinking and really confident in what Isaiah can do going forward and looking forward.”
The former undrafted free agent out of USC is in his third season with the team as a backup safety and special teamer. He had yet to break into the starting lineup, though his playing time has increased in his second season and in this year’s training camp, he had become one of the more talked about players.
Pola-Mao was dubbed as the next man up at safety, the team’s big nickel, and personal protector on special teams coverage.