Tag: Trayvon Mullen

Keisean Nixon return to practice welcome sight with Raiders rash of injuries at cornerback

Keisean Nixon return to practice welcome sight with Raiders rash of injuries at cornerback

Monday night the Raiders depth at cornerback was tested and then some. The team lost Trayvon Mullen to a foot injury on the first drive of the game. Then a short time later, they saw Mullen’s replacement, Damon Arnette go down with a groin injury. And before all was said and done, nickel corner Nate Hobbs was banged up as well.

This meant the only two cornerbacks left were Casey Hayward and Amik Robertson, which forced the team to play safety Roderic Teamer at the nickel spot.

Well, Mullen and Arnette are still not practicing, which would leave the team with no depth at the position past the three starters. Or it would if not for the return of Keisean Nixon who practiced for the first time since being placed on injured reserve prior to the start of the season.

That means if Hobbs is ok, the team will have the personnel to field at least four cornerbacks on Sunday when the Bears come to town. The only question will be who starts at outside corner if Mullen and Arnette can’t go?

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Former NFL star gives breakdown of a former Tiger in the NFL

A former Clemson cornerback shined at the end of what was one of his best games, if not his best, as an NFL player this past Sunday. Trayvon Mullen played a key role in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 31-28 overtime victory over the Miami Dolphins at …

A former Clemson cornerback shined at the end of what was one of his best games, if not his best, as an NFL player this past Sunday.

Trayvon Mullen played a key role in the Las Vegas Raiders’ 31-28 overtime victory over the Miami Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

After committing a pass interference penalty late in regulation that led to the game-tying score, and then briefly leaving the game with an injury, Mullen bounced back in overtime, breaking up two passes on deep balls that would have resulted in big plays had Mullen not been able to answer the bell.

In the “Raiders Breakdown” feature released by the Raiders, former six-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro NFL cornerback Eric Allen breaks down Mullen’s film against the Dolphins.

Check out the video below:

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What They Are Saying: Former Tigers show out in NFL Week 2

A bunch of former Clemson football players showed out on Sunday in Week 2 of the NFL season. Check out what they are saying on Twitter about some of the former Tigers in the NFL: Kyler to DeAndre Hopkins is unfair pic.twitter.com/WX4Lh661Lo – PFF …

A bunch of former Clemson football players showed out on Sunday in Week 2 of the NFL season.

Check out what they are saying on Twitter about some of the former Tigers in the NFL:

Clemson Variety & Frame is doing their part to help bring you some classic new barware and help one of the local businesses that helps make Clemson special.

Order your Nick’s barware and do your part to help.  #SaveNicks

5-star cornerback could fit Terrell/Mullen mold in Clemson’s defense

Clemson is in a good position with some of the best prospects in the 2023 class. Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson 2023 five-star cornerback Tony Mitchell is the nation’s No. 1 player at his position and No. 10 prospect for the ’23 class, per 247Sports …

Clemson is in a good position with some of the best prospects in the 2023 class.

Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson 2023 five-star cornerback Tony Mitchell is the nation’s No. 1 player at his position and No. 10 prospect for the ’23 class, per 247Sports Composite rankings.

The Clemson Insider recently checked back in with Mitchell regarding his current recruitment and what he’s been hearing from Clemson as of late.

Mitchell’s main points of contact at Clemson are cornerbacks coach Mike Reed and defensive tackles coach Todd Bates.

“I’ve just been talking with Coach Reed and Coach Bates and they’ve just been talking about how I really fit into the defensive system there,” he told TCI. “They want me. Just talking about how great the program is and how I’d benefit from coming there.”

Mitchell has been told that he’s similar to A.J. Terell and Trayvon Mullen, and would potentially fit into Brent Venables’ defense like those two former Tigers cornerbacks.

According to Mitchell, Clemson likes his physicality, size and versatility. He can play anywhere in the defensive backfield.

If Mitchell were to end up at Clemson, it would give him a lot of confidence that the coaching staff knows how to develop cornerbacks and help them reach the next level, he said.

Mitchell currently considers Clemson to be one of his top schools at the moment. The Alabama cornerback would like to make a top-10 list in the near future, potentially before his junior season.

He’ll make his way up to The Valley for a game this season. He’s not sure which one just yet, but he’s “for sure” going to be there. 

Those are conversations that Mitchell has had with Clemson’s coaching staff, but more importantly, he’s gotten to know Reed and Bates on a personal level.

“We’re real close,” Mitchell said. “They’ve got to know my family and I’ve been talking with those guys since my freshman year, so we got a really good relationship.”

“It’s been really good getting to talk to a lot of these coaches and starting to build relationships with a lot of different people and just getting to know everyone,” he added.

This summer has allowed Mitchell to hit the recruiting trail. Something that wasn’t available to prospects around the country last year due to the ongoing pandemic.

Mitchell is grateful for what’s been able to do for his recruitment process.

“It’s been very good,” Mitchell said. “I’m glad we got visits in June, getting to see coaches. It’s been over a year and some months. It was good to see them again, getting to see some schools I haven’t been to before. It’s really going to help my recruitment process.”

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Ranking the top 25 players on Raiders roster: 6-10

Ranking the top 25 players on Raiders roster: 6-10

Over the last few days, we’ve looked at the best players on the 2021 roster for the Las Vegas Raiders. We now move into the top ten. When we get a good feel for what kind of overall talent the Raiders possess.

10. PK Daniel Carlson

2020 was a bounce-back year for Carlson. In his second season with AJ Cole as his holder, Carlson found his stroke again, nailing 33 of his 35 field goal attempts (94.3%) including a perfect four for four from 50+ yards out. His field goal percentage was good for fourth-best in the NFL last season.

9. WR John Brown

Brown has averaged over 15 yards per catch over the past three seasons with the Ravens and Bills. His season was cut short in 2020 after nine games, but in 2019 he had a career-high 72 catches for 1060 yards and added six touchdowns. He comes in to replace the departed Nelson Agholor who put up career numbers with the Raiders last season.

8. RB Kenyan Drake

A strange signing to be certain as Drake is a luxury item on a team that already had a great starting running back and needed help on defense. But regardless of that, he brings talents with him that are starting caliber. His career average of 4.5 yards per carry, which was 4.8 yards per carry prior to a dip to four yards per carry in 2020.

But despite that slight dip in yards per carry, Drake also had his best overall numbers in terms of rushing yards (955) and touchdowns (10). He’s also been a receiver out of the backfield for much of his career, including in 2018 when he had 53 catches for 477 yards and five touchdowns. Gruden intends to use him a lot in that capacity.

7. CB Trayvon Mullen

One of the few Raiders defenders who came out of last season having seen his play improve. Mullen is also the only member of the secondary whose starting job is unquestioned. He put up two interceptions and 14 pass breakups last season while allowed a respectable 7.7 yards per target.

The 2019 round two pick is a building block for a secondary that otherwise continues to try and find its way and will have at least two new starters next season and quite possibly three.

6. QB Derek Carr

Carr is coming off statistically his best season since his magical 2016 season. What was missing, however, was the magic. He is certainly efficient as a passer, throwing for 27 touchdowns to just nine interceptions. Though his fumbling continues to be a real problem. He had 11 of them last season to give him 63 for his seven-year career. Last season they were a primary factor in the Raiders being the worst fumbling team in the league.

His efficiency as a passer and has not often translated into winning games. And it’s not all on the defense either. Over a five-game stretch late last season in which the Raiders were fighting for a playoff spot, Carr cracked the 100 passer rating barrier just once, throwing just six touchdowns to four interceptions, and the team lost four of those five games and were knocked out of the playoffs. It was eerily similar to the same five-game stretch in 2019.

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Ranking the top 25 players on Raiders roster: 6-10

Ranking the top 25 players on Raiders roster: 6-10

Over the last few days, we’ve looked at the best players on the 2021 roster for the Las Vegas Raiders. We now move into the top ten. When we get a good feel for what kind of overall talent the Raiders possess.

10. PK Daniel Carlson

2020 was a bounce-back year for Carlson. In his second season with AJ Cole as his holder, Carlson found his stroke again, nailing 33 of his 35 field goal attempts (94.3%) including a perfect four for four from 50+ yards out. His field goal percentage was good for fourth-best in the NFL last season.

9. WR John Brown

Brown has averaged over 15 yards per catch over the past three seasons with the Ravens and Bills. His season was cut short in 2020 after nine games, but in 2019 he had a career-high 72 catches for 1060 yards and added six touchdowns. He comes in to replace the departed Nelson Agholor who put up career numbers with the Raiders last season.

8. RB Kenyan Drake

A strange signing to be certain as Drake is a luxury item on a team that already had a great starting running back and needed help on defense. But regardless of that, he brings talents with him that are starting caliber. His career average of 4.5 yards per carry, which was 4.8 yards per carry prior to a dip to four yards per carry in 2020.

But despite that slight dip in yards per carry, Drake also had his best overall numbers in terms of rushing yards (955) and touchdowns (10). He’s also been a receiver out of the backfield for much of his career, including in 2018 when he had 53 catches for 477 yards and five touchdowns. Gruden intends to use him a lot in that capacity.

7. CB Trayvon Mullen

One of the few Raiders defenders who came out of last season having seen his play improve. Mullen is also the only member of the secondary whose starting job is unquestioned. He put up two interceptions and 14 pass breakups last season while allowed a respectable 7.7 yards per target.

The 2019 round two pick is a building block for a secondary that otherwise continues to try and find its way and will have at least two new starters next season and quite possibly three.

6. QB Derek Carr

Carr is coming off statistically his best season since his magical 2016 season. What was missing, however, was the magic. He is certainly efficient as a passer, throwing for 27 touchdowns to just nine interceptions. Though his fumbling continues to be a real problem. He had 11 of them last season to give him 63 for his seven-year career. Last season they were a primary factor in the Raiders being the worst fumbling team in the league.

His efficiency as a passer and has not often translated into winning games. And it’s not all on the defense either. Over a five-game stretch late last season in which the Raiders were fighting for a playoff spot, Carr cracked the 100 passer rating barrier just once, throwing just six touchdowns to four interceptions, and the team lost four of those five games and were knocked out of the playoffs. It was eerily similar to the same five-game stretch in 2019.

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Watch: Patrick Mahomes throws second pick of the season

Trayvon Mullen was in the right place to pick off Patrick Mahomes

Patrick Mahomes now has two interceptions and both were by the Las Vegas Raiders.

In the second quarter on Sunday, Trayvon Mullen picked off the Super Bowl MVP as he had the Chiefs deep in Raiders territory.

Raiders by the numbers in Week 3 vs. Patriots

Raiders Wire continues it’s coverage of Raiders stats and analytics looking at the numbers from Week 3

Raider Nation is still a mess after a disappointing showing in Foxboro, MA. The Las Vegas Raiders were dominated in the second half and ended up losing 36-20 for their first loss of the season.

This week the numbers dive into the game plan for both teams and how it affected the outcome. Let’s dive in and see what we can find.

The Patriots forced QB Derek Carr to be aggressive

Before this game, Derek Carr has had a reputation of unwillingness to throw the ball downfield. His IAY(Intended air yards) has always been on the bottom half of the league, and this year was no different. Bill Belichick exploited that tendency last Sunday, forcing Carr to be aggressive, and it made him uncomfortable.

Carr achieved his highest IAY of the season of 7.8 and was fifth in aggressive rate according to next-gen stats at 21%. The Patriots defense was spying running backs out of the backfield with tight coverage on the back end. Carr had no choice but to throw the ball down the field as Belichick was not letting the Raiders offense win with the usual 500 paper cuts.

Raiders have to go back to the drawing board after this, and fans might see Carr have his most aggressive season if teams adapt this game plan against him. It will be interesting to see if this was just Belichick’s genius or if the league can copy.

Raiders’ defense struggled to tackle

The Raiders defense is the weak spot for this team through three weeks with the unit not having a good performance yet. The trend continued Week 3 with the defense giving up 250 yards rushing on 38 carries to the Patriots team with a great running game. The main reason for this is the team can’t tackle right now.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Raiders missed 12 tackles last week. Their total for the full season is at 35 right now, which is second to last with only the terrible jets ahead of them.  Cory Littleton missed one tackle in 2019 and now has missed six on the season. It has caused sloppy play for every fan to see and big gashing holes up the middle.

The defense has to clean this up right away with a great Bills team coming into town that is 3-0. A defense can’t average 12 missed tackles a game and be successful. If the Raiders want to make a playoff run, it won’t be possible if this stat continues to pile up.

Trayvon Mullen shined in coverage

While the Raiders defense did not have an exciting showing, to say the least, one player continues to stand out. Trayvon Mullen played his best game of the season Sunday with an excellent performance in coverage that helped him make the Pro Football Focus players of the week column.

Mullen was targeted four times and allowing only one catch for a total of eight yards. His passer rating allowed was 39.0, which is the equivalent to throwing the ball into the ground every play. He led the league with three pass deflections and was all over the field and the Patriots receivers.

Mullen has been the standout player for this defense so far that struggling to stop anyone after three games. He is holding his own on his side of the field. Mullen looks like he has taken the next step in his development as a pro in the NFL. The sky is the limit for the young corner.

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Raiders QB Derek Carr excited about ‘stickier’ coverage by Las Vegas cornerbacks

Cornerback was a position of need for the Raiders this offseason, and they missed out in free agency. Not to worry, says QB Derek Carr.

The Raiders replenished their defense at every level this offseason, via the draft and free agency, though not all went according to plan.

General manager Mike Mayock attempted to land a big free-agent prize at cornerback but missed out on Byron Jones, who ended up signing with the Dolphins. The Raiders also reportedly signed CB Eli Apple to a bargain contract, but the deal fell through.

But not to worry. Mayock and coach Jon Gruden turned to the draft to fill the need, selecting Damon Arnette in the first round. He’s been lining up with the starting unit, along with second-year CB, Trayvon Mullen, and quarterback Derek Carr is impressed.

“I’m really excited about our corners,” Carr said from training camp on Tuesday. “The coverage is stickier. They are doing some good things, so very excited.”

It’s just an early impression from practice, but Carr’s comment is still encouraging for the Las Vegas defense. Though cornerback was a priority in the offseason, the Raiders’ group is young and mostly unproven, even behind their current starters.

Rounding out the depth chart are second-year prospects Isaiah Johnson and Keisean Nixon, along with rookie Amik Robertson. The Raiders did sign one veteran in free agency in Prince Amukamara, and he could step into a starting role if needed. Returning veteran Nevin Lawson also figures to be in the mix.

But it’s best for the Raiders if Arnette and Mullen can hold on to their starting spots. The two represent large investments in the draft and could potentially patrol the corners for years to come. According to team leader, Derek Carr, so far, so good.

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Is CB Travyon Mullen the next great Raiders cornerback?

Raiders Wire breakdown Trayvon Mullen’s rookie season and why he displayed the elements of a great shutdown corner.

The new Las Vegas Raiders have a long history of legendary cornerbacks. From legends like Lester Hayes, Mike Haynes, Charles Woodson, and Willie Brown. The pedigree of dawning the silver and black is plentiful with pro bowls and hall of fame inductions. 

However, the past two decades are scarce when it comes to the cornerback position. Besides the years with Nnamdi Asomugha being an elite corner, the spot has had the most turnover as any other position on both sides of the ball. Fans have had to deal with Stanford  Routt and Phillip Adams for the past decade watching the team give up big play after big play. 

While the Raiders have attempted to address the position through the draft, it has led to more bust than hits. D.J. Hayden and Gaeron Conley were first-round picks, and neither one of them ended being anything for the organization. Even late-round players like Keith McGill and Nick Nelson didn’t last longer than three seasons with the team.

Now with Mike Mayock at the helm, the Raiders took a stab at another cornerback to help fit the mold of how they want to play defense. The Raiders love tough, hard-nosed corners who love to tackle, and they started that precedent in 2019 by selecting Trayvon Mullen out of Clemson University.

Mullen’s Rookie Season

Mullen didn’t start the season as a starter as he sat behind Gaeron Conley and Daryle Worly. He got early action against the Denver Broncos but did not fare too well in his first action. However, after the Gareon Conley trade. Raiders fan saw what could be the future shutdown corner for the Raiders defense.

Once he entered the lineup, Mullen got better every single week. He finished the season with intriguing numbers for a rookie corner who usually struggle their first year.

According to Sports Info Solutions, Mullen finished the season giving up a completion percentage of 50.88%. He matched that with a rating of 70.94 allowed for the season. These are the best coverage numbers we have seen from a Raiders cover corner in years and displays Mullens’s full potential.

Mullen numbers would have been even better if he didn’t drop 3 interceptions on the year. This means he has a chance to have a big sophomore year once the game starts to slow down for him.

Dominant last three weeks 

The last three weeks of the season is where fans saw Mullen takes his most significant leap. He was absolutely dominant during this period making his side of the field basically a non-target. You could make the case he was one of the best corners in football from Week 15 to 17.

Against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, and Denver Broncos Mullen was lights out. He allowed a completion percentage of 28%, which was 7th in the NFL with a YPA of 3.36, according to Sports Info Solutions. He allowed a passer rating of 41.07, which was ninth overall allowing just 15.67 yards per game. 

With Mullen going into the same system in 2020, his development at the end of the year has to have the organization excited. The last three weeks could be a sign of how dominant Mullen could be for his whole sophomore season if he puts in the work.

AFC West Eraser

Division play is paramount for NFL teams to make the playoffs. The Raiders division rivals each have 1,000-yard receivers who demand attention on every snap. Mullen stepped up and help shut down these receivers during his 10 starts proving to be a menace for the talented group.

It started off Week 13, where Mullen was lined up against Tyreek Hill for five targets. Hill only caught two of those targets for 19 yards with Mullen displaying he could handle the speed of hill and dominate him in press coverage. 

Keenan Allen and Courtland Sutton didn’t fare too well against Mullen, either. Allen only had one target, which led to a near interception on the play. Sutton was shut out as well, but he had three targets leading to zero receptions on the day. Mullen’s domination of the top receivers in the AFC West is excellent for the outlook of the secondary next year.

2020 potential

When evaluating a rookie season, you mostly want to see where they finish the year. Mullen excellent end to the season makes you believe he is ready to become a star in the next two seasons 

Raiders have been searching for just a consistent corner production for most of the last decade. With the addition of Damon Arnette through the 2020 NFL draft, the future looks bright at the position. Mullen taking the next step could be the key to the defense coming into its own and consistently help the Raiders win football games.

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