Getty Las Vegas Raiders CB Trayvon Mullen.
The NFL season is many months away, but that isn’t stopping Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Trayvon Mullen from putting in some work. The promising second-year player showed signs of being a shutdown cornerback of the future for the silver and black, but still has work to do. He enlisted the help of former All-Pro wide receiver Chad Johnson for an offseason workout.
Doing releases from goal line to goal line with Trayvon Mullen tomorrow morning & that makes me happy because i get to wake my feet up 🙏🏿
On the surface, there’s no reason for Johnson and Mullen to be working together, but the two men are actually both from Florida. Johnson probably didn’t have to go too far out of the way to meet up with the current Raider.
Johnson is 42 and has been out of the NFL since 2012, but he was one of the best wide receivers in the NFL during his prime and he’s clearly stayed in shape. There’s a lot the young cornerback can learn from the seasoned veteran.
Mullen can turn into the shutdown the Raiders need him to be and it looks like he’s determined to make that happen.
Raiders Are High on Mullen
The Raiders have invested a lot of draft capital in defensive backs over the last several years and Mullen seems like he may end up the best of the bunch. He was a second-round pick in 2019 but could’ve easily gone in the first. The Raiders had a very impressive draft class last year and Jon Gruden thinks Mullen may be the best of the bunch.
“He is the brightest light of the whole thing for me,” Gruden said about Mullen during the season. “You know we traded Conley, which was hard to do early in the season. It kind of opened the door for Trayvon. And I think after the Tennessee game when you watch the Jacksonville performance, when you watch him play against the Chargers in LA, (it) is impressive.
The Raiders haven’t had a ton of luck drafting cornerbacks. The last two they took in the first-round were Gareon Conley and D.J. Hayden, neither are with the team and neither ever lived up to the expectations the team had for them. Fortunately, Mullen seems different. He’s tough and has an incredible work ethic. He could be in for a huge 2020 season.
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Will Raiders Try to Add Darius Slay?
While the team is certainly excited about Mullen, it remains to be seen if they have a strong number two option behind him. Daryl Worley has looked impressive in the past, but he’s a free agent and he hasn’t always been consistent. One name the Raiders should take a serious look at is Detriot Lions cornerback Darius Slay. It’s recently been reported that he could be the subject of a trade.
Slay is one of the five best cornerbacks in the NFL and would instantly be a game-changer for the Raiders. A duo of Mullen and Slay could turn the team’s pass defense into one of the best in the NFL. He’s due for a contract soon and he’s made it known that he isn’t going to come cheap. Thanks to that fact, the Raiders shouldn’t depart with a first-round pick for him. If the Lions will take two of the team’s three third-round picks for Slay, Las Vegas should consider it.
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