Film room: Porter the ultimate Carroll corner

Diving into what the Iowa State cornerback could bring to Las Vegas

Recently, Silver and Black Pride highlighted a handful of cornerbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft who fit Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll’s typical profile. Iowa State’s Darien Porter was one of the five prospects listed and is the best match for the traits Carroll has prioritized at the position in the past.

Porter posted elite testing numbers at the NFL Combine, measuring in just under 6-foot-3 with over 33-inch arms while running a 4.30-second 40-yard dash to help earn a nearly perfect 9.99 RAS. But the former Cyclone isn’t just a workout warrior as he has the stats to match his impressive athleticism.

Last season, Porter ranked second among Big 12 cornerbacks (only trailing Travis Hunter) and seventh in the FBS with a 90.1 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus. He had almost as many interceptions (three) as completions allowed (five), leading the country with a 29.4 completion percentage and 4.7 passer rating when targeted. For reference, a quarterback would earn a 39.6 passer rating if every throw was an incompletion.

Considering the Raiders could use some help at cornerback during the draft, let’s take a look at what the Iowa State product can bring to the table.

We’ll start by diving into Porter’s interceptions and this first one highlights his football IQ.

Iowa is running Y-leak which is a play-action pass that is designed to get the defense to forget about the tight end. The two receivers at the top of the screen run crossing routes to grab the defensive backs’ attention and test the DBs’ eye discipline. On the other side of the formation, one of the tight ends blocks for the run fake before releasing on a crossing route to the short side of the field or the area that the receivers vacated.

Meanwhile, Iowa State is in Cover 3 and Porter initially steps downhill to defend the run. Once he recognizes the ball fake, he drops into his area while eyeing the quarterback and using his peripheral vision to see and pick up the tight end. That allows him to anticipate the throw, step into the passing lane and make the interception.

This is a great example of the film room meeting the gridiron as Porter likely spent all week preparing for this play.

This next pick is a lot simpler as the corner is in man coverage against a go route. But make no mistake about it, this is still a difficult assignment since he’s in press coverage and on an island against the single receiver with the defense playing one-high.

Plays like this one are where that 4.3 speed comes in handy as Porter runs stride-for-stride with the receiver, allowing no separation. That leaves the quarterback with no room to complete the pass but he tries to attack the one-on-one matchup anyway, allowing Porter to make a nice adjustment to the ball and come down with the pick.

Also, this is a good example of how Porter’s background as a wide receiver can help him at cornerback. He was a wideout during his first three years in college before switching sides of the ball in 2022.

One note before moving on, Porter’s other interception isn’t included here since it came via a hail mary attempt at the end of the Iowa game.

This next rep is similar as the former Cyclone is on an island against a go route again. But what makes this play more unique is he’s lined up across from a couple of stacked receivers. That forces the two corners at the bottom of the screen to be on the same page as they’ll have to pick up their man post-snap.

On top of that, the receiver on the line of scrimmage attacks Porter during his release to try and capture Porter’s attention before breaking inside on the route. However, the corner maintains his balance against the physical press release and isn’t fooled, exchanging one wideout for the other to defend against the go route.

Again, Porter’s speed and ball-tracking skills play a factor as he stays in phase down the field with the receiver, gets his head around to find the ball and comes away with a PBU. Granted, we might have discovered why he switched to defense because this should have been another interception!

Here we’ll get a textbook example of how to defend against a goal line fade from Porter.

He lines up in press coverage with slight inside leverage pre-snap. When the receiver stems inside on the release post-snap, he trusts his pre-snap leverage and doesn’t drift toward the middle of the field.

So, when the receiver works toward the back pylon, Porter can stay on top of the route and be in a perfect position to defend against a back shoulder throw or the fade. To finish, he shows off more ball skills by coming up with another PBU.

The Iowa State product has some work to do as a run defender, most notably adding some strength to be better at taking on blocks. But his effort against the run can’t be questioned and the clip above is the best example.

The Hawkeyes run a lead zone here that running back Kaleb Johnson (one of the top backs in the 2025 draft class) cuts backside. That puts Porter and Johnson on opposite sides of the field as Johnson widens toward the sideline, creating even more space between the two players.

However, the corner doesn’t quit on the play, takes a deep angle and uses his speed to make a touchdown-saving tackle. Any defensive coordinator will be willing to work with that kind of effort from a corner in run support.

We’ll end with a nice open-field tackle from the cornerback.

UCF runs a jet sweep/tap pass where the receiver lined up across from Porter goes inside to crack block the safety, creating a one-on-one opportunity on the perimeter between the ball carrier and Porter. The offense is hoping their guy can make the defender miss in space to pick up the first down and more, but Porter has other ideas and comes up with a TFL.

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The biggest issue with Porter is he’s an older prospect at 24 years old and also lacks experience despite being a sixth-year senior, a tough combination. As mentioned above, he was originally a wide receiver at Iowa State. That led to him taking less than 700 defensive snaps (425 in 2024) in college and only recording seven starts.

However, there are a lot of similarities between Porter and Riq Woolen, who played for Carroll with the Seattle Seahawks and tied for the most interceptions in the NFL (six) while making the Pro Bowl as a rookie two years ago. So, don’t be surprised if the former Cyclone heads to Las Vegas later this month as he fits Carroll’s profile for cornerbacks to a tee.