The Las Vegas Raiders made a somewhat surprising move in the second round of the 2026 NFL draft, adding former Arizona defensive back Treydan Stukes to the roster.
While the Raiders needed a safety heading into the draft, part of the shock value with the Stukes pick is that he was primarily a cornerback in college. He was used on the perimeter during his first three years with the Wildcats and spent the last three seasons covering the slot, recording 943 career snaps on the outside and 1,174 snaps on the interior, per Pro Football Focus. He also logged 464 snaps in the box as a strong safety.
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Granted, Las Vegas’ biggest hole was at free safety, and the 2025 second-team All-American only spent 39 snaps on the backend of the defense in college. However, he has the skillset to fill that role and patrol the secondary by being a ballhawk, recording four interceptions and six PBUs in 10 games last season. Creating turnovers was another need for the Silver and Black’s defense, and those numbers helped Stukes earn the fourth-highest PFF coverage grade (90.4) among FBS corners last year.
With that in mind, let’s flip on the tape and see what the second-round pick can bring to the Raiders.
What stands out about Stukes’ game and specifically, his ball skills, is his ability to locate and track the ball in the air. The clip above might be the best example of that from last season.
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Arizona is running quarters to the wide side of the field, which puts Stukes one-on-one against the slot receiver. Post-snap, the defensive back takes a peek into the backfield and sees the quarterback staring down the slot. After getting his eyes back on his man, Stukes uses his hands to slow the receiver down a bit and give himself some time to get into a trail position. That means the DB’s back is to the quarterback.
However, once he recognizes that the wideout is running an out and not a corner route, and gets back to an arm’s length away from his man, Stukes gets his head around and finds the ball in the air to come up with the pick. What’s impressive about this rep is that by the time he turned to look for the ball, the pass was already three to four yards away from the target, but he still managed to come up with the interception.
This time, we’ll get an example of why the second-round pick could take over at free safety in Vegas.
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The Wildcats show a three-safety look pre-snap and rotate into a two-high shell post-snap, running Cover 2 to the wide side of the field. That puts Stukes as a deep-half defender, and he gets a vertical route from one of the receivers in the stacked formation off a switch release.
The wideout is running a double-move route and does a decent job of selling the post before breaking toward the front pylon on the post-corner route. As a result, Stukes bites on the fake and opens his hips to the middle of the field. However, the safety recovers by flipping his hips and putting that 4.33-speed to good use to get back in phase against his man.
Finally, those ball tracking skills show up again, as he finds the ball in the air and lays out to come up with PBU on third down. That forces the offense to make a tough decision, as they’re facing fourth and five at the 40-yard line.
Technically, Stukes is covering the slot here. But this is more like a free safety assignment than a true nickelback since he’s lined up about seven yards off the ball and on the third level of the defense, rather than being about three to four yards off the ball and on the second level.
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Arizona is in man coverage this time and brings a blitz, leaving the defense vulnerable to giving up a first down or touchdown with a missed tackle in the secondary. On top of that, Iowa State has a great play call for the coverage, essentially running a screen down the field by having the receivers on the wide side of the formation line up near the numbers and in a stacked set, where the slot tries to pick Stukes while the outside receiver runs a slant.
However, Stukes recognizes the concept and uses a leverage step to stay inside the receiver who is trying to block him. That’s significant because if the defensive back is late to see the play design or tries to work around the slot, he’d essentially block himself since the offense is trying to create a lane down the hashmarks.
As a result, Stukes avoids the pick or beats the block and crashes downhill to make an excellent open-field tackle to keep this to a short gain and come up with a coverage stop.
This next rep is pretty similar to the last one, only it’s a legitimate screen and our subject is playing from a true nickelback alignment.
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Baylor is giving its quarterback (Raiders UDFA signing, Sawyer Robertson) two reads on the frontside of the playcall: the short curl route to the inside slot receiver or the swing pass/screen to the running back. With the linebacker closing the window against the curl, Robertson opts for the screen to the back.
Meanwhile, Stukes gets a screen block from his man and uses his speed as a weapon. Instead of immediately crashing downhill, he lulls the receiver to sleep by staying about four yards off the ball and forcing the receiver to come to him. Once the pass is thrown, he shows off some impressive burst to beat the receiver’s block and blow up the screen by coming up with a tackle right at the line of scrimmage.
This is a combination of gamesmanship and football IQ from the Arizona product. If he crashed downhill right away, he might defeat the receiver’s block, but he’d also give the running back an easy read to hit the inside lane rather than muddying the look to give himself an opportunity to make the tackle. Also, staying patient keeps him in position to rally to the inside slot receiver if the quarterback throws the curl route.
Coverage is how Stukes is going to make his money in the NFL, but he can contribute as a run defender, too. He posted PFF run defense grades in the mid-70s four times over the last five seasons and is willing to get involved in run fits. That’s likely part of the reason why Arizona started using him in the box more often, and the clip above is an example of what he can bring at strong safety.
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Iowa State runs a pull-lead concept, where the playside guard pulls and the running back lead blocks for the quarterback. Meanwhile, Stukes is in the box and lined up outside of the tight end, putting him one-on-one with the pulling guard after the tight end releases inside to block the linebacker. An offensive lineman against a defensive back is a mismatch that favors the offense.
However, similar to the previous rep, the DB uses his speed as a weapon by slow playing it at first before accelerating and using his athletic advantage to beat the guard’s block. That’s smart because it forces the offensive lineman to come to him and operate in space, tilting the matchup in the more athletic player’s favor.
That puts Stukes in a great spot to make a tackle on the edge if the quarterback continues to run outside, effectively setting the edge and doing his job. But the standup outside linebacker does a great job of getting penetration by blowing up the tight end and running back/lead blocker, forcing the quarterback to cut inside, and that’s where Stukes gets some extra credit on this play.
The strong safety—who, again, has already done his job by forcing the ball inside—breaks down after beating the puller, sinks his hips to change directions and works back toward the line of scrimmage to make the tackle for a short gain.
We’ll wrap up with a similar play to the last one, where Stukes’ athleticism to defeat blocks in the running game stands out again.
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This time, the Cyclones are running duo, and the Wildcats’ defensive line does a good job of getting penetration and plugging up the interior gaps. So, when the safety uses his speed to beat the tight end’s block and shows off the bend to work back toward the line of scrimmage, he’s in a perfect position to clean the play up by getting involved in the tackle for loss.
Slightly different situations/play calls, but another example of the second-round pick using his athleticism to make an impact as a run defender.
While the Stukes pick was certainly surprising, especially since Kayden McDonald was available at No. 36, make no mistake about it, the Raiders got a good defensive back. He brings exactly what the secondary needs in terms of being a ballhawk and has the versatility to contribute against the run, too.
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