A Young DB Gets Carted Off in Houston, and the Secondary Runs Out of Margin

The Raiders' preseason game against Houston on August 20 ended with a second-year defensive back from Colorado State being carted off with a leg injury. It's the kind of moment that gets a brief mention in a game recap and then quietly reshapes a depth chart for weeks.

The timing matters because the secondary was already working with limited cushion. Jermod McCoy navigated a winding path through the offseason — Questionable by late July, confirmed Active now — but his availability heading into Week 1 remains the kind of thing you note without fully trusting. The cornerback group behind Eric Stokes is thin, and the safety depth behind Isaiah Pola-Mao and Tristin McCollum doesn't offer much if another name goes down.

I wrote in August that the Fatukasi signing shored up the defensive line but left the secondary question unanswered. That was before Wednesday. The question is the same; the roster answering it just got a little shorter.

Rob Leonard wants this defense to play with ownership and instinct. That's a reasonable ask of veterans who know the system. It's a harder ask when you're leaning on players who weren't supposed to be in the rotation yet.