HENDERSON, Nev. — The Raiders’ defense was miserable in all facets last season. The team finished 26th in scoring defense, 27th in yards allowed per play, 28th in yards allowed per pass and 23rd in yards allowed per rush. It struggled to get off the field on third downs, couldn’t rush the passer, was among the worst in the league at forcing turnovers and couldn’t stop anyone in the red zone. Essentially, there was nothing good about the collective defensive performance.
Advertisement
The takeaway from the Raiders’ front office this offseason was that the defensive performance last year was more a reflection of the lack of talent on the roster than the fault of defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. That’s why Graham kept his job while general manager Dave Ziegler entered the offseason intent on improving all three levels of the defense. But after evaluating the defensive personnel, there’s still a long way to go in that effort. In terms of producing results along the way, they’re leaning on patience.
“I just think being patient (is important) as you build the defense and build the communication and build working on our techniques,” Graham said Thursday. “It’s real football now in terms of just getting ready for the season.”
The projected starting defensive line is the same as it was last year: edge rusher Maxx Crosby, defensive tackle Bilal Nichols, defensive tackle Jerry Tillery and veteran edge Chandler Jones. The two most significant additions to the D-line room were defensive end Tyree Wilson and defensive tackle Byron Young. Both Wilson (foot) and Young (undisclosed) are sidelined with injuries and undoubtedly will go through rookie growing pains when they return. For the group to improve significantly, the Raiders will need both a resurgent season from Jones and breakthroughs from some of the unproven linemen.
“Chandler’s been doing this for a long time,” Graham said. “He knows last year and whatever happened doesn’t matter. Especially with the defensive line position as it starts to become real football now, it’s really about getting back to your fundamentals and technique. … It’s not anything really specific to Chandler; it’s really for all those guys.”
🔴🎥 Live: Coach Graham, Chandler Jones, Kolton Miller and AJ Cole addresses the media from the Intermountain Health Performance Center. https://t.co/SXCOYF1NiK
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) July 27, 2023
At linebacker, the Raiders effectively swapped out Denzel Perryman for Robert Spillane. While Perryman was hampered by injuries last season, he’s still a better player than Spillane when healthy. Divine Deablo has to be able to shake off his own durability issues and take another step forward to make up the difference. And Luke Masterson, who started out of necessity as an undrafted rookie, has to become less of a liability in pass coverage to justify sticking in the rotation.
Advertisement
“As a linebacker, it’s about being able to have some anticipation,” Graham said of Deablo. “And some awareness pre-snap, that’s always key because they’re usually in some sort of run-pass conflict. The better they understand that, the more likely they are to make plays.”
The cornerback room got a talent boost with the signing of Marcus Peters on Monday, but he doesn’t automatically solve all of the team’s problems. For starters, the 30-year-old had a rough season last year — he was coming off a torn ACL — and needs to show he can bounce back. Additionally, there’s a cluster of cornerbacks still jockeying for depth-chart positioning including Duke Shelley, Jakorian Bennett, Nate Hobbs, David Long Jr., Brandon Facyson, Sam Webb, Tyler Hall and Amik Robertson. There’s just too much uncertainty to feel confident about the position.
Marcus Epps is surely an upgrade over Duron Harmon at strong safety, but there are questions about Tre’von Moehrig at free safety. He had a strong rookie season in 2021 but regressed sharply last year as he was exploited in coverage, failed to make plays on the ball and made little difference in the run game. To be fair, he played through a hip injury he suffered early in the season and had to deal with adjusting to a vastly different role. There’s optimism he can turn things around, but that remains to be seen.
Overall, the Raiders are taking a patient approach when it comes to roster building. The defense still isn’t exactly where they want it to be, but they weren’t going to take shortcuts to get it there.
“It was more about finding some young players that fit the traits that we value and that we think we needed to add to the team, and we did that in a couple of areas,” Ziegler said in March.
Still, the odds are stacked against Graham when it comes to what he has to work with from a personnel standpoint. He doesn’t plan on using that as an excuse, but it has to be considered when making realistic projections for the defense.
Advertisement
With that being said, finding ways to improve despite difficult circumstances is why coaches get paid. Talent aside, Graham didn’t do a good enough job last year of game planning, adjusting on the fly and putting players in positions to succeed. That can’t continue to be the case in 2023.
“Any coach in this league, if you don’t improve and you become stagnant, you’re going to be in trouble,” Graham said. “It’s constantly changing. You’ve got to stay competitive.”
GO DEEPER
Raiders training camp: Jimmy Garoppolo makes an impression on Day 1
Notes
• Jones doesn’t think the defense needed a massive overhaul to be better this year. He and other returning players feel more comfortable in the scheme. and that has aided their confidence.
“To be honest, I don’t think we have to do anything miraculous,” Jones said Thursday when asked what the Raiders need to do to avoid similar struggles in 2023. “We don’t have to do anything new. We have to listen to the coaches. We have to really dig deep and grab what’s been told to us. And it has to be second nature. If we get 11 guys out there that are not thinking and just flying, it’s dangerous.”
As for his individual performance, Jones isn’t as concerned with his numbers as he is with his impact up front. As long as he’s able to be disruptive and help the defense as a collective, he’ll be happy.
“Being disruptive doesn’t mean having a sack,” Jones said. “It doesn’t mean making a tackle for loss. You can blow up a guy in the backfield and knock him into someone else and make the quarterback trip and fall. So, being disruptive is just having a presence. And if everyone on the D-line and on the defense can have that kind of mentality of being disruptive but not just trying to make a play and everyone stays in their gap, you’ll be fine. Everyone’s just doing their job.”
• Running back Josh Jacobs, who still hasn’t signed his franchise tag and is home in Tulsa, Okla., made it clear through a series of Twitter posts that he still isn’t happy.
Common sense not too common clearly…
— Josh Jacobs (@iAM_JoshJacobs) July 27, 2023
“Common sense (is) not too common clearly,” Jacobs wrote Thursday. And in response to a fan who said he was replaceable, Jacobs added, “Let’s see them do it then.”
It doesn’t sound like the tension between Jacobs and the Raiders will ease anytime soon.
GO DEEPER
Exploring the contract options for Josh Jacobs and the Raiders as training camp begins
• The Raiders placed defensive tackle Neil Farrell Jr. on the non-football injury list Wednesday. He joins Young and Wilson as young defensive linemen who are sidelined.
It’s not a big deal this early in the offseason, but that trio needs as many reps as possible to get ready for the season.
Aside from them, Hobbs (eye) was the only other player under contract who didn’t practice Thursday.
Advertisement
• Instead of mixing it up this offseason, the Raiders brought back their starting offensive line of left tackle Kolton Miller, left guard Dylan Parham, center Andre James, right guard Alex Bars and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor. Greg Van Roten will compete with Bars, and Thayer Munford and Brandon Parker may push Eluemunor, but it remains a largely familiar group.
Miller believes that consistency and cohesion will help the group improve and has also been impressed by a handful of newcomers including Van Roten and undrafted rookies Dalton Wagner and McClendon Curtis.
“By keeping the group together, I know from the experience of last year along with the growth guys have had, added strength, coming out here and seeing the focus, the attention to detail — it’s very promising,” Miller said Thursday. “We want to continue to work and get better.”
• Despite the lack of change along the O-line, that group has still had to make a significant adjustment going from former quarterback Derek Carr to Jimmy Garoppolo. But through their first two practices together, Garoppolo’s familiarity with the system has helped ease the transition. Garoppolo and his offensive linemen are already meshing.
“Man, he connects well with us,” Miller said. “You see his work ethic. He’s a competitor. … So, I’m really excited. We just started up, so I’m looking forward to what he does and what we do as a unit these next few weeks.”
(Photo of defensive end Maxx Crosby and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham: Kirby Lee / USA Today)
The Football 100, the definitive ranking of the NFL’s best 100 players of all time, goes on sale this fall. Pre-order it here.
