The Las Vegas Raiders entered last season determined they had improved on defense after the unit struggled in the 2022-23 season.
Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham started last season with a decent amount of attention focused on him and his unit. Although he was given one of the lowest-paid defenses in the National Football League with many underperforming players, Graham eventually took an improved but middling defense and found a way to unlock the most out of a defense with few household names on it.
While the Raiders' defense still needed to improve, they ended the season with the ninth-best scoring defense in the league. They accomplished that after Coach Antonio Pierce and Graham worked together to unlock the foundations of a formidable defense. Las Vegas entered the season expected to ride a productive offense to wins, only to lean on its defense as the offense often sputtered.
The Raiders’ defense regularly proved up to the task last season. However, many players on the Raiders’ defense who had successful seasons overperformed expectations. The Raiders gladly welcomed the emergence of Malcolm Koonce in a critical third season for the veteran defensive lineman. Rookie defensive lineman Tyree Wilson improved vastly late in the season as Graham figured out how to use him best.
Linebackers Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo proved to be a legitimate pairing at linebacker. The Raiders got a pleasant surprise from cornerback Jack Jones and Nate Hobbs, who proved to be serviceable, giving them a competitive pair of cornerbacks.
While all those players and others performed admirably for the Raiders’ defense last season, General Manager Tom Telesco understands it isn’t productive to ask many of those same defensive players to have a second consecutive productive season without giving them the tools to do so.
Telesco isn’t entering next season with the expectation of improving simply on whether or not those players again enhance their play this offseason. He’s giving them even more help.
By signing defensive lineman Christian Wilkins, using two draft picks on cornerbacks and drafting a linebacker with the potential to solidify the Raiders’ linebacker units, Telesco and the Raiders have finally built actual depth behind quality starters at nearly every position on their defense.
Suppose Graham can incorporate the new additions and find a way to continue maximizing the defense’s production again through proper coaching and scheming. In that case, he now has the tools to lead what could be one of the better defenses in the league.
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