Tag: 380474

HENDERSON, Nev. — Johnathan Hankins and Bilal Nichols both came off the PUP list last week, and no, that rumble you heard emanating from near the Las Vegas Raiders‘ compound was not the latest monsoon rolling through Sin City.

It was a sigh of relief.

The Raiders getting their two projected starting defensive tackles out of the training room from undisclosed injuries and onto the practice field provided more than a feel-good story.

“Certainly, we now have more depth than what we’ve been practicing with, for sure,” first-year Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said. “I think anytime you add players back, in this case two defensive linemen that we have some hopes for, it kind of reallocates the repetitions. It re-slots everyone into maybe a role that maybe fits them perfectly, or better than what we were doing before. I see those guys as guys that can contribute.”

Better late than never, right?

Consider: the Raiders, under McDaniels and new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, have reimagined the defensive line, especially its interior. Because while there is no doubt about the roles of star edge rushers Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones, Hankins was the only pure interior D-lineman brought back by the Raiders’ new regime (Kendal Vickers rotates between the interior and edge).

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And, as noted above, Hankins started training camp on PUP.

Gone are Quinton Jefferson (4.5 sacks in 2021), Solomon Thomas (3.5), Darius Philon (2.0) and Damion Square (0.5), taking 10.5 of the Raiders’ 35 sacks from last season with them. In their place are free agents Nichols, Andrew Billings, Kyle Peko, Tyler Lancaster and Vernon Butler (who was released Aug. 16) and draft picks Neil Farrell Jr. and Matthew Butler.

Keep in mind, while the Raiders’ depth chart shows a 4-3 alignment — Hankins and Peko started at defensive tackle in Las Vegas’ exhibition at the Miami Dolphins last weekend, while Peko and Billings started the first two preseason games — Graham’s scheme has plenty of 3-4 sensibilities.

“Coach Pat got us going through a couple of different formations,” Peko said with a smile. “Up front, the more you can do, the better. So I think for all the interior guys, knowing each end knows the three-tech spot, it’s just beneficial for the whole defense in the long run.”

It’s a simple philosophy, really.

“We know the vision Josh has — he wants us to win the line of scrimmage, so we’ve got to be heavy handed,” Graham said early in camp. “We’ve got to come out of our hips. We’ve got to strike people. Right now, we’re not striking people; we’re hitting sleds. But you see … improvement, you see the pad level.

“I always think about young defensive linemen — when they’re in college, they’re better than everybody. Here, everybody’s good. You better get your pads down, or you’re going to get embarrassed. So that’s been a big focus.”

Farrell, a fourth-round pick from LSU, and Butler, a fifth-rounder from Tennessee, played 27 and 22 snaps, respectively, against the Dolphins, with Farrell finishing with three tackles. A week earlier, each played 15 snaps against the Minnesota Vikings.

“We have the same perspective, we’re both rookies,” Butler said of himself and Farrell. “We just bounce things off of each other after practice and work off with each other during practice.”

As well as lean on the veterans.

“Kendal Vickers has been a friend of mine since my freshman year at Tennessee,” Butler added. “He’s been great. Also, Bilal Nichols. He’s been in this league for five or six years now. But really, I mean, whether it’s Tyler, whether it’s A.B., whether it’s Hank, everybody in the room has been pouring [information] into myself and Neil and the rest of the team. And we try to [absorb it] by just giving our all, day by day.”

The rookies spoke to the media the same day a mini-melee broke out between Crosby and third-round pick Dylan Parham, an interior offensive lineman.

“Everybody is just out there competing, trying to make one another better,” Farrell said. “That’s all we do every day. Try to push each other, go hard and give it the best we’ve got. Every day.

“I feel like everybody gears for improvement. I’ve got to get better at fundamentals and techniques. That’s just coming in, working every day at practice and just doing what I have to do to get better.”

The return of Hankins, though, showed just what an impact he can have for the D-line in particular, and the entire defense in general. Especially since he was playing mostly against Dolphins starters and controlling the line of scrimmage in his 13 snaps.

“A position that I would say, for the most part, has been a little bit thin during the course of camp, has now kind of taken a boost here,” McDaniels said of Hankins returning, while anticipating the debut of Nichols. “Now it feels like we have some more depth up front, some more combinations.

“We bumped Kendal Vickers out to the end a little bit this last week because we have a little bit more depth inside. It allows us to make some moves and some decisions that maybe we didn’t have the flexibility to make earlier, which affects and impacts the entire defense.”

Yes, better late than never.

HENDERSON, Nev. — The Las Vegas Raiders open 2022 NFL training camp Wednesday at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center. Here’s a closer look at a few storylines:

The most compelling position battle: Let’s look at the right side of the offensive line, particularly right tackle. Because if the Raiders are going to run it back with the same O-line that contributed to Derek Carr getting sacked 40 times in 2021, with the right side being the weak link, this is ground zero. Alex Leatherwood, last year’s first-round pick, started the season at RT, moved to right guard in Week 5 but was seeing time on the outside in OTAs and minicamp. If Denzelle Good is healthy enough to reclaim his RG spot after going down with a torn left ACL in the season opener, that should solidify things.

And that’s not counting swing tackle Brandon Parker or Jermaine Eluemunor, who has played both spots and is already familiar with new coach Josh McDaniels’ system from his time with the New England Patriots. Seventh-rounder Thayer Munford and UDFA Bamidele Olaseni could also get looks at right tackle while third-rounder Dylan Parham seems slotted for left guard.

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The player with the most to prove: We should just rename this the Derek Carr Award. Every year Carr endures the slings and arrows of so many rumors and reports of him being on the trade block and yet, he remains. What’s different now, though, is aside from the aforementioned offensive line, Carr has the most dynamic weapons at his disposal, not only in personnel but in scheme and playcalling. Plus, the Raiders went all in by bringing his college bestie, the best receiver in the league in Davante Adams, in a trade with the Green Bay Packers. No more excuses? Yeah, something like that.

But didn’t Carr just sign a three-year, $121.5 million extension? Indeed, but per the terms of the deal, the Raiders are under no obligation to pay him anything after this season and would eat just $5.6 million in dead money should they choose to move on. Plus, Carr’s Total QBR has tumbled every time he’s had a change in playcallers. Stop us if you’ve heard this before, but this is truly a make-of-break season for Carr, who, as noted before, has everything he could ask for … unless that O-line breaks again.

The biggest question: Yeah, staying on the Carr angle here, but so much has been made of the connection he has with Adams from their college days together. And while they have worked out together as pros in the offseason, they were last teammates in (checks notes) 2013. So how fresh, exactly, is the chemistry between the erstwhile Fresno State Bulldogs, and how long will it take to reconnect in a game situation? Adams has definitely benefited from playing with a Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. But while Carr has had the likes of Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree, Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller to throw the ball to with the Raiders, Adams is on another level.

However long, or short, it takes for Adams and Carr to get in sync will go a long way in determining the type of on-field success they have in Las Vegas. Because remember, Carr finds a target and stays with him, from Waller and his 107 receptions in 2020 to Renfrow and his 103 catches last season. Adams has averaged 119 catches the past two seasons.

Most impactful offseason addition: Non-Davante Adams division? Chandler Jones. Sure, the Raiders essentially swapped Yannick Ngakoue, who is five years younger, for Jones, who is polishing a Canton-worthy resume. Jones’ 107.5 sacks and 33 forced fumbles are the most in the NFL over the last 10 years and while five of his 10.5 sacks last year came in the season opener, there is enough left in the 32-year-old’s tank that he will still command respect and double-teams.

And that frees up opportunities for his bookend edge rusher Maxx Crosby, a rising star who was last year’s Pro Bowl Defensive MVP. Now, Jones is not in Las Vegas merely to be a decoy; he was signed to bring veteran leadership as well as wreck shop on his own. And at 6-foot-5, 265 pounds, Jones also has three inches and 19 pounds on Ngakoue, who led the Raiders with 10 sacks in 2021.

Bold prediction: The Raiders will return to the postseason for a second season in a row. Wait, shouldn’t a team that survived last season’s travails, made upgrades all over the roster, as well as in scheme and playcalling, be a lock to return to the Super Bowl tournament? If so, the truly hot take would be to predict Las Vegas would fall short, no? Well … the flip side shows so many unknowns and resulting questions in a division that saw every team make significant upgrades that picking Las Vegas to be in the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time since 2000-02 seems to be the bolder way to go. At least, before training camp.

HENDERSON, Nev. — When Matthew Butler‘s cell phone came to life in the fifth round of the NFL draft last month, the former Tennessee defensive lineman did not recognize the number on the screen.

“It just showed ‘Las Vegas, Nevada,'” Butler said. “So, my heart stopped a little bit.”

Indeed, when it comes to the Las Vegas Raiders and defensive linemen, the 702 area code has been getting a lot of work this offseason. Because besides drafting Butler with the No. 175 overall pick, the Raiders also selected LSU’s Neil Farrell Jr. one round earlier. Las Vegas then signed a pair of undrafted rookie D-linemen in Notre Dame’s Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Iowa’s Zach VanValkenburg, both of whom are listed as ends.

This after signing a gaggle of veteran defensive tackles in free agency — from Bilal Nichols to Kyle Peko to Vernon Butler to PJ Johnson to Tashawn Bower to Andrew Billings — while re-signing Johnathan Hankins and retaining Kendal Vickers.

Oh yeah, and the Raiders traded away defensive end rusher Yannick Ngakoue and signed edge rusher Chandler Jones to pair with Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby.

The Raiders’ new regime re-shuffled its D-line deck … and then some.

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“We didn’t have many [defensive linemen] on the roster to start with,” said new Raiders coach Josh McDaniels. “There was a lot of opportunity at that position.”

To be fair, McDaniels was speaking specifically of the two interior defensive line positions. To be more general, with the Raiders valuing versatility in all of their players, they will show a variety of new fronts under new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

A 4-3 base, as has been the Raiders’ look for a decade-plus? Sure.

What about a 3-4, which more closely resembles Graham’s sensibilities? As McDaniels has said since he was hired in January, a base defense is basically a nickel now. So you need interchangeable pieces, and the more positions one can play, the more playtime said player will get.

Which is why you shouldn’t read too much into Jones being listed as a linebacker on the team’s transactions page, or Farrell as a defensive lineman, or Tagovailoa, who trends as a classic “tweener,” as an end.

“During my career at LSU,” Farrell said, “I played defensive end. I played defensive tackle. I played nose guard. So whatever the team needs, I’m willing to do.”

Keep in mind, Clelin Ferrell, the No. 4 pick of the 2020 draft, is still on the roster and might translate better as an end in a 3-4 scheme. As is Malcolm Koonce, who was drafted in the third round last year, had two sacks in his first two games as a defensive end but also started seeing practice reps at outside linebacker late in the season.

Plus, the AFC West is loaded at quarterback, with Russell Wilson joining the Denver Broncos to add to Patrick Mahomes with the Kansas City Chiefs and Justin Herbert with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Then there’s this: the Raiders have ranked in the bottom half of the NFL in scoring defense in 19 straight seasons, the longest such streak by any team since 1970, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

No wonder Las Vegas has gone so heavy on the D-line this offseason.

In Farrell, the Raiders got a 6-foot-4, 319-pound fifth-year senior who had 45 tackles, 9.5 for a loss, with two sacks for LSU last fall. Pro Football Focus had the two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member fourth in FBS with 24 run stops, 10 of which were either for no gain or a loss.

Butler, at 6-4, 295 pounds, was also a fifth-year senior who blossomed last season. He played an SEC-high 726 snaps and led Tennessee’s defensive linemen in tackles (47) while being fourth in tackles for loss (8.5) and third in sacks (5) with seven QB hurries and a forced fumble. PFF had him in the top 10 of SEC D-linemen in rush defense.

The 6-2, 270-pound Tagovailoa-Amosa, who played five years at Notre Dame (sensing a trend yet?) and was a team captain, had two sacks last season while the 6-4, 263-pound VanValkenburg played three years at Iowa after transferring from Division II Hillsdale. He had five sacks as a senior.

As McDaniels put it, the Raiders have been taking “a few swings” on the defensive line this offseason, from free agency through the draft and the UDFA signings.

“Like I said, we’re going to need some depth there in camp anyway,” McDaniels said. “We are going to improve the competition at each position that we can, and I think we’ve put a group in there that’ll do that now.”

HENDERSON, Nev. — While we’ve already addressed the Las Vegas Raiders‘ overall draft woes of late — only six of their 68 draft picks from 2012-19 have been signed to second consecutive contracts and just three of their first-round draft picks since 2005 have been signed to extensions — there has been a bright spot.

As in … a silver lining to a decidedly black cloud.

Because for every JaMarcus Russell, Rolando McClain, D.J. Hayden and Gareon Conley as first-round flops, the Raiders have unearthed midround gems such as defensive tackle Justin Ellis, defensive end Maxx Crosby, receiver Hunter Renfrow and cornerback Nate Hobbs.

Call it a certain sweet spot.

And since the Raiders do not have a selection in this year’s draft until the third round at No. 86 overall — the first- and second-round picks went to the Green Bay Packers for receiver Davante Adams — the challenge for the new regime of general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels is to keep that pluck (luck?) going.

Good thing Ziegler believes this year’s draft has quality depth, then, right?

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“I think when you find players in the midrounds that ultimately develop into core contributors for your team, there’s a level of pride in finding those guys because … there’s always the kind of the players that have risen to the top for one reason or another,” Ziegler said at his recent pre-draft media conference.

“Not that all those players pan out. We know that they don’t.”

As such, Ellis was taken in the fourth round at No. 107 overall in 2014 by the regime of GM Reggie McKenzie and coach Dennis Allen and played five years for the Raiders. Crosby (fourth round, No. 106 in 2019), Renfrow (fifth round, No. 149 in 2019) and Hobbs (fifth round, No. 167 in 2021) were selected by coach Jon Gruden and GM Mike Mayock.

Ellis has continued to produce, having spent the past three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before signing with the New York Giants this spring. Crosby, the defensive MVP of the most recent Pro Bowl, just inked a four-year, $94 million extension with the Raiders on March 11 after racking up 25 sacks in his first three seasons and leading the NFL with 108 total pressures this past season, per Pro Football Focus.

Renfrow is also in line for a new deal after catching 103 passes in 2021, the second-highest single-season total by a receiver in franchise history behind the 104 receptions Hall of Famer Tim Brown had in 1997. Hobbs was PFF’s highest-graded cornerback when lined up in the slot last season with a grade of 81.5.

Yeah, those are foundation pieces, players the Raiders found on Day 3 of the draft.

The New England Patriots also had success with Day 3 finds during Ziegler’s time in the Patriots’ personnel department. Since he was hired by New England in 2013, the Patriots have found players such as running back James White (fourth round, 2014), defensive end Trey Flowers (fourth round, 2015), guard Shaq Mason (fourth round, 2015), guard Ted Karras (sixth round, 2016), defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. (fourth round, 2017), guard Mike Onwenu (sixth round, 2020) and running back Rhamondre Stevenson (fourth round, 2021) on the final day of the draft.

Again, unless the Raiders trade up into the first or second round — “Always a chance for a trade,” Ziegler said with a grin — his regime will again have to make its hay late in those middle rounds.

And keep this in mind — Ziegler reiterated McDaniels’ philosophy of drafting the best player available, regardless of position.

“I mean, if we draft three [players] in the same position in a row, because they’re clearly the three best players when it’s our turn to draft, I mean, you make a strength stronger,” McDaniels said at the NFL owners meetings last month.

The Raiders’ biggest strengths are at the offensive skill positions and their pass-rushers, positions that will be the most sought-after in the early rounds. So perhaps quality players at their biggest positional needs of offensive line and cornerback can still be found in those middle rounds.

Plug-and-play guys? It worked for Ellis, Crosby, Renfrow and Hobbs, and remember, Ziegler lauded the depth of this draft.

“You’re judged on the personnel side by the players that you draft and how well they produce and the types of players that they turn into for the organization,” Ziegler said. “And so, there’s a competitive aspect of wanting to draft players. You want every single draft pick and every single player that you sign, you want that player to produce and overproduce in an ideal situation.

“Yeah, we want to have a great draft. Sure, you want to be known as a team that drafts well and that develops talent and all those types of things. Whatever round that is, we want to make sure that we’re able to do that.”

HENDERSON, Nev. — Consider it one of the biggest challenges facing the Las Vegas Raiders‘ new regime. And it’s not merely a single-prong problem.

Because while general manager Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels have to clean up what can only be considered draft misses (messes?) by previous staffs, they also have to show they have learned from those mistakes and avoid making the same ones going forward.

Consider: The Raiders have given out second consecutive contracts to six of their 68 post-Al Davis draft picks from 2012 to 2019.

Only one was a first-rounder (left tackle Kolton Miller, who was drafted by Jon Gruden and Reggie McKenzie in 2018) and one was taken in the second round (quarterback Derek Carr, who has signed a pair of extensions after being picked by McKenzie and Dennis Allen in 2014).

Two third-round picks (guard Gabe Jackson went 81^st overall in 2014 and offensive tackle Brandon Parker went 65^th in 2018) and a pair of fourth-rounders (defensive tackle Justin Ellis was No. 107 in 2014, while defensive end Maxx Crosby was taken No. 106 overall by Gruden and Mike Mayock in 2019) round out the list.

Only the New York Giants have signed fewer of their draft picks over the same time frame to second contracts (two), while the Jacksonville Jaguars have extended 10 of their 59 picks from 2012 to ’19.

And when you throw in the fact that three of the Raiders’ 15 eligible first-round draft picks since 2005 have signed second deals with the team — Miller, running back Darren McFadden (drafted in 2007) and 2006 first-round defensive back Michael Huff (Las Vegas also re-signed 2016 first-round safety Karl Joseph in 2021 after Joseph spent a year with the Cleveland Browns) — it’s easier to fathom how the team has only been to the playoffs twice, losing both postseason games, since appearing in Super Bowl XXXVII … in January 2003.

Yet, as Carr said last week at the news conference announcing his three-year, $121.5 million extension — he previously signed a five-year, $125 million extension in 2017 — he wanted to make sure money was left on the table to take care of teammates in need of, yes, second contracts.

“Guys like, hopefully, Hunter [Renfrow] and Foster [Moreau],” Carr said of his slot receiver, who was a fifth-round pick in 2019, and his backup tight end, a fourth-rounder that same year. “And [hopefully] those guys can stay here the way we structured [my extension].

“I went through a heartbreak already last time I signed my contract, my best friend [Khalil Mack] left, and I didn’t want that to ever happen again. And so, this was an opportunity for me to prove to the team, to the organization, to our fans, that the way we’re going to structure this is so that we can keep everybody together and really, really have real continuity, really have something to build on. And so, for me, it was like, how do we do that?”

The Raiders will also get roughly $20 million in salary-cap space after June 1, thanks to the releases of defensive end Carl Nassib and linebackers Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski.

Plus, the Raiders will have to make decisions on whether to apply fifth-year options on their 2019 first-round picks — defensive end Clelin Ferrell, running back Josh Jacobs and safety Johnathan Abram.

“Usually in these negotiations, ‘How much money can we get?'” Carr said. “And then they’re, ‘How much can we save?’ And this was just different. There was a learning curve about it. Like, how do we make that happen to where I feel good and to where the team feels great, like, ‘Man, we can still build a championship team around you.’ And so, that was what was important to us. And hopefully this contract proves that.”

The proof, though, remains in the draft and the regime’s coming selection technique.

It is the lifeblood of any organization, and with Raiders owner Mark Davis bringing in a couple of lifelong New England Patriots in Ziegler and McDaniels to run the football side of things, expect big changes.

Such as the actual, well, draft philosophy. The Raiders do not have first- or second-round picks, thanks to the Davante Adams trade, and are not scheduled to make the first of their five selections until the third round, at No. 86 overall.

“We’re going to try to draft the best players [available],” McDaniels said at the NFL owners meetings. “I mean, if we draft three in the same position in a row, because they’re clearly the three best players when it’s our turn to draft, I mean, you make a strength stronger.

“To me, the best way to improve your team is to continue to take the right guy. Not, ‘Oh, man, we’ve got a hole on the roster, let’s take this guy just because his name says whatever position beside him.'”

And maybe, just maybe, the Raiders will find some guys worthy of second contracts that way.