AMES — Iowa State football‘s Darien Porter was selected with the fourth pick in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders. Porter was the 68th overall pick this year.

There was hope that his athleticism would be best suited on the offensive side of the ball, before he eventually found his true calling at cornerback and became one of the key members of Iowa State‘s defense. The 6-foot-3 Porter first made a name for himself on special teams before settling in at cornerback.

Here is a look at how Porter projects at the next level.

What Darien Porter brings to the Las Vegas Raiders

There simply aren’t many 6-foot-3 cornerbacks around with his athleticism and top-end speed.

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Blessed with a 6-foot-6 wingspan, a 4.3-second 40-yard dash, solid field awareness and quick-twitch play, Porter is tough for opposing offenses to throw against. What he’s missing in technique and experience, he easily makes up for with his pure athleticism, size, length and speed. His physical profile makes him disruptive and he has good instincts to put himself in position to make winning plays.

At the NFL combine, he ranked fifth among cornerbacks with his 36.5-inch vertical jump, but in the top two for every other category, including 40-yard dash and broad jump (10 feet 11 inches). He also led all cornerbacks and finished in the top three throughout the entire combine in the 10-yard split (1.49 seconds), three-cone drill (6.71 seconds) and 20-yard shuttle (4.04 seconds).

“To be honest with you, none of us in this building were surprised,” Cyclones cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat said of Porter’s combine performance. “There were some things put out there where they had people running 4.4s, maybe a 4.39 (40-yard dash), and I laughed at them. I was pushed into — I had to comment one time on somebody and said, ‘You have no idea, DP is going to run way faster than that,’ so I wasn’t surprised at that. To be honest with you, I’m so proud of how he handled himself just on that platform and how he interviewed.”

A six-year player at Iowa State, Porter didn’t get to start until his final season, but he left quite the impression. As injuries started to pile up for the Cyclones, Porter emerged as a lockdown cornerback and helped them finish with a program-best 11 wins and first double-digit win season in Iowa State’s 133-year history. Iowa State ended the season giving up an FBS-best 165.6 passing yards per game, and he also recorded three interceptions for a defense that finished in the top 25 nationally for turnover margin at +9.

His impact on special teams was where Porter first built a name for himself at Iowa State and actually what sparked the Cyclone coaching staff to re-evaluate his position and experiment to see if he was better suited for defense than offense. Since the Big 12 was formed in 1996, he is the only Iowa State player to record five career blocked kicks. He has a knack for getting to the ball and is someone that punt teams and field goal units should be aware of.

It is important to note that Porter is still fairly raw at cornerback, especially when compared to his peers. While he’s still learning certain nuances and techniques for the position, the ceiling appears to be high if he can be developed properly and work with the right coaching staff. He seems to have the right open-minded approach that makes him an eager learner and positive presence. If the Raiders can unlock his potential, he’ll pay off big for their defense.

“He’s just about his craft,” Iowa State defensive coordinator Jon Heacock said about Porter back in November. “He just got better and better at playing corner, so really excited about him. Done a great job on special teams, as he’s always done here, and he’s just been really a lot of fun to watch him grow since he got here.”

Darien Porter scouting report

Lance Zierlein of NFL.com wrote the following evaluation of Porter:

Sixth-year senior with elite traits and special teams talent but only one year of starting experience at cornerback. Porter’s rep total is heavy on zone coverages but he has the athleticism, burst and speed to handle more man coverage. He has excellent zone awareness with the twitch and ball skills to expand his sphere of influence. He uses his length to shade downfield throws but needs to get stronger to improve his press, his contest and his tackling in run support. More schooling is needed as a pattern-matcher but his athletic profile and instant impact on special teams should create more confidence in projecting Porter’s continued ascension as a CB2/CB3.

Strengths

• Elite combination of size, length and speed.
• Possesses arm length that offensive tackles would covet.
• Smooth athlete with easy change of direction and acceleration.
• Long speed with well-timed transitions to phase deep routes.
• Mature field awareness and zone discipline despite a lack of experience.
• Possesses the burst and ball skills to crank up ball production.
• Standout talent at gunner with four career blocked punts.

Weaknesses

• Made first start at cornerback in his sixth season in 2024.
• Limited man-cover reps on tape to evaluate.
• Takes time gathering and adjusting to more complex routes.
• Below-average play strength to discard run blocks.
• Quite a bit to clean up with tackling and contain in run support.
• Inconsistent coming to balance as a tackler as a punt gunner.

Darien Porter career stats

• Total career stats: 51 tackles, three interceptions, six pass break-ups, five blocked kicks
• 2024 season: 18 tackles, including two for loss, with three interceptions, five blocked kicks and two pass breakups

Darien Porter’s height and weight

Porter is 6-foot-3 and weigh 195 pounds.

Darien Porter’s high school

Porter attended Bettendorf High School in his hometown of Bettendorf, Iowa.

Eugene Rapay covers Iowa State athletics for the Des Moines Register. Contact Eugene at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @erapay5.