Oakland Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 2 loss
By Nico Di Fede
Stock Down: Keisean Nixon, Trayvon Mullen
Both rookie cornerbacks had bad games on Sunday evening. In fact, the entire secondary had a bad game on Sunday.
Keisean Nixon only played seven snaps on defense after only playing on special teams last week. Seven snaps isn’t much, but in those few snaps he gave up multiple catches and big ones at that. Nixon gave up a pass for over 25 yards on the first play of the third quarter.
More from Golden Gate Sports
- Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
- 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
- Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
- 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
- 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve
He was beat one on one versus Demarcus Robinson. He was beaten by a step, on top of not turning his head and playing the ball, which led to the easy reception. Nixon later gave up another 23-yarder against Robinson.
In the grand scheme of things, this performance may not be a big deal for Nixon, as he is an undrafted free agent rookie who isn’t supposed to be getting much playing time.
This game, he got to see how it is to play against legitimate, elite NFL talent which we can only hope helps him to improve in the long run.
Outside of Daryl Worley, Trayvon Mullen probably played about as well as anybody else in the secondary, but again that standard is low.
None of the touchdowns were because of him, but when you combine this game with last week against the Broncos where he gave up three catches and a touchdown, his stock is going down as he didn’t really do anything positive either in the game outside of a big hit on Mecole Hardman on special teams.
Next. Oakland Raiders: Top 5 takeaways from Week 2 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. dark
Cornerback is one of the hardest positions to develop, so there is no reason to lose faith in Mullen’s ability after only two weeks, but the team will need the Clemson product to step up quickly as the beginning part of the Raiders schedule isn’t getting any easier.