Silver And Black Pride
There was only one defender that had more snaps for the Las Vegas Raiders defense than safety Isaiah Pola-Mao.
That was linebacker Devin White at 1,118 snaps in 2025 and that total accounts for nearly 100 percent (99.38 percent to be exact) of the team’s defensive snaps last season. Pola-Mao, in comparison, notched 1,081 snaps (96.09 percent), showcasing the iron men nature of the two Raider defenders.
Interestingly enough, White is no longer in Silver & Black. Despite pacing the team with 174 total tackles as a 17-game starter, the 28-year-old linebacker remains an unrestricted free agent after signing a one-year flier contract. Since general manager John Spytek has a history with White dating back to their respective Tampa Bay Buccaneers days, the assumption was eventually, White and the Raiders would re-up on a richer and longer deal than the one-year pact inked last offseason.
However, the Raiders chief personnel man made a major pivot in free agency this offseason by inking Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker to bolster the linebacker position instead of going back to the well with White.
How does this relate to Pola-Mao, you may be wondering.
Like linebacker, Spytek reconstituted numbers at safety, too, investing 2026 NFL Draft picks in Arizona safeties Treydan Stukes (second round, 38th overall) and Dalton Johnson (fifth round, 150th overall). The Raiders general manager added more talent to a roster bereft of it from 2025 to this offseason all with intention of putting rookie head coach Klint Kubiak and his assembled coaching staff in the best possible position to succeed.
And with Stukes and Dalton joining Pola-Mao, Jeremy Chinn, and Tristin McCollum in a bolstered safety room, a reserve/sub package role may be the best route for Pola-Mao.
An undrafted free agent find out of USC in 2022, the 6-foot-4 and 205-pound Pola-Mao served as a reserve/special teamer in his first two seasons with the Raiders before logging starting snaps in 2024 (14 starts, 17 games). This past season, the Phoenix native was a 17-game starter and compiled respectable numbers in 2025 with 92 total tackles (58 solo), four tackles for loss, two interceptions, and four pass deflections.
Pola-Mao finished third on the team in the tackles department (behind White and fellow starting safety Jeremy Chinn, 114 total) and the pair of picks was good for second on the team (former cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly led Las Vegas with three interceptions in 2025).
But similar to White’s case, statistics don’t tell the full story — as impressive as they may be.
According to Pro Football Reference, Pola-Mao was targeted 57 times in coverage and the safety allowed 38 completions (66.7 percent completion rate) while yielding 582 yards and six touchdowns this past season. Of those yards, 407 were air yards and 175 arrived after the catch (yards after catch; YAC). In terms of yards and touchdown allowed in coverage, Pola-Mao was tops by quite a bit. White was next up allowing 475 yards then Kelly at 460 yards. Kelly and...
