Although the Oakland Raiders came up short against the Houston Texans in Week 8, rookie cornerback Trayvon Mullen can take solace in the fact that he managed to make the most out of his first career start.
The Raiders opted to deal cornerback Gareon Conley prior to the Oct. 29 trade deadline to the Texans in exchange for a third-round pick in 2020. As a result, his departure left a notable void in a secondary that was already notably thin.
Fortunately, Mullen was able to justify Oakland’s optimism that he could serve as a viable replacement moving forward with a strong performance against the Texans. He enjoyed a solid outing by allowing just two receptions for 10 yards against a high-powered offense led by quarterback Deshaun Watson.
Despite all the pressure he had faced, Mullen found success in sticking with the basics, via Scott Bair of NBC Sports:
“I really wanted to stay focused, stay level,” Mullen said. “During the week, people were staying there was going to be a lot of pressure. For me, it was just relying on the game plan, fundamentals and technique. It was still football, and I reminded myself of that.”
Mullen added that he feels he has gotten adjusted the speed of the game in the NFL:
“I was ready,” Mullen said. “I knew exactly what was coming, but everything just happened so fast. I won’t miss any more of those.”
It is certainly encouraging to see that Mullen was seemingly able to find his footing against Houston. There is no question that the promise he showed early on helped make the decision to part ways with a former first-rounder in Conley a bit easier and he is now doing what he can to show that it was the right move.
Regardless, it is still far too early to determine whether or not Mullen can continue to perform on a consistent basis. Despite his strong showing, the rookie did miss out on an opportunity to swing the game in Oakland’s favor after dropping an interception. Of course, some growing pains are to be expected of the former second-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Mullen will have ample time to establish himself as the long-term starter for a Raiders team that has used up plenty of resources in their efforts to shore up the secondary.
It will undoubtedly be interesting to see which of these two rookies between him and Isaiah Johnson will be pegged as the No. 1 corner down the final stretch.
