Johnson told the Arizona Daily Star<\/a> after being drafted. \u201cI called (Stukes) real quick and he couldn\u2019t believe it. He said, \u2018This is the best day of my life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s one thing to be drafted and I\u2019m so grateful to be a Raider, and then on top of that, I get to do it with Stukes. Probably the best day of our lives for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
By The Numbers
Treydan Stukes, Safety, Arizona<\/p>\n
2025: 10 games, 52 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 4 interceptions, 6 pass deflectionsCareer: (2020-25), 52 games, 206 total tackles, 1 sack, 12 tackles for loss, 7 interceptions, 29 pass deflections<\/p>\n
Dalton Johnson, Safety, Arizona<\/p>\n
2025: 12 games, 97 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions, 7 pass deflections, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recoveryCareer: (2021-25), 49 games, 286 tackles, 3 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 5 interceptions, 10 pass deflections, 7 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery<\/p>\n
The synergy between the two collegiate teammates should serve them well as they embark on their professional careers in Silver & Black.<\/p>\n
Stukes and Johnson served as mainstays for the Wildcats defense \u2014 they played a total of five seasons together (2021-25) \u2014 and the former served as a versatile nickel\/slot and safety while Johnson served as a strong safety\/box defender. But Arizona didn\u2019t pigeon hole the talented defenders to one single position as both moved across the alignment to put them in the best possible position to succeed.<\/p>\n
Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Leonard would be wise to do the same. And there\u2019s potential for the Wildcat tandem to be Raiders starters \u2014 although, that\u2019s down the road and may take a season or two for that to happen.<\/p>\n
The much-higher drafted Stukes brings standout versatility to serve as as sub package matchup machine as a deep safety, nickel\/slot cornerback, and rangy ballhawk.<\/p>\n
While Las Vegas did well to acquire an elite slot cornerback in veteran Taron Johnson via trade, the 29-year-old defender played in 25 of 34 games the past two seasons. And manning the slot takes a physical toll as it\u2019s equal parts cover man and hammer of a tackler as a run defender. Stukes brings blistering speed (4.33-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine) and good size at nearly 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds with him to the NFL game.<\/p>\n
Stukes having a strong camp and offseason, alongside already being 25 and ready made for the pro game due to experience and age, can push Isaiah Pola-Mao for a starting spot. The 26-year-old (27 on June 30) was a 17-game starter last season (92 total tackles, two interceptions) but didn\u2019t have a strong 2025 campaign despite the numbers.<\/p>\n
Johnson, meanwhile, faces a tough task of displacing box safety Jeremy Chinn. The 28-year-old veteran started the 15 games he played in 2025 and produced 114 total tackles, one sack, and two forced fumbles for Las Vegas. Like his fellow starting safety Pola-Mao, Chinn stands 6-foot-3 and is the heavier of the two at 220 (Pola-Mao weighs in at 203 pounds). However, the 2026 campaign marks the final year of a two-year contract Chinn signed as a free agent last offseason.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s where Johnson can make his mark as a high-impact tackling machine. Despite being 5-foot-11 and 195 pounds, Johnson is a physical defender who makes his presence known near the line of scrimmage as he led Arizona\u2019s defense in total tackles the last two seasons (97 in 2025, 94 in 2024) and has a penchant to jar the football lose with seven career forced fumbles. He also showcased his hands with four interceptions (same as Stukes) in his final season as a Wildcat.<\/p>\n
Expect both Stukes and Johnson to cut their teeth on Joe DeCamillis\u2019 special teams units in their rookie seasons, though. Especially if the veterans (Pola-Mao and Chinn) get first-team reps and earn starting nods once more at safety. But getting work on special teams \u2014 kick return, kick coverage, punt return, punt coverage \u2014 isn\u2019t a new thing for the Arizona products.<\/p>\n
Both played on the variety of special teams units as Wildcats and have the ability to become core special teams types, regardless of where they were drafted.<\/p>\n
As a late-round pick, that\u2019s Johnson\u2019s cleanest path to a 53-man roster: Taking his physical play style and ability to tackle in DeCamillis\u2019 groups. Johnson is known to bring an infections attitude and energy to special teams and defense isn\u2019t the only time a defender can force fumbles. Johnson bringing that same grit into punching the ball out will help both Leonard\u2019s defense and DeCamillis\u2019 special teams crews.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apparently, when John Spytek identified the safety as a critical need for his team and said the 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[72259,51322,349,99],"class_list":["post-622814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-las-vegas-raiders-depth-chart","tag-las-vegas-raiders-draft","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}