After last season ended, the Las Vegas Raiders insisted on improving their defense.
The Raiders made a slew of additions to the defense via free agency and the NFL Draft, expecting their defense to improve this season.
Las Vegas has certainly improved on that side of the ball, as the Raiders' defense ranks ninth in the NFL in points allowed per game.
Arguably, one of their most significant additions was veteran safety Marcus Epps, who joined Las Vegas after having the best season of his career last season with the Philadelphia Eagles.
"It's interesting," Interim Coach Antonio Pierce said. "So, I was at Long Beach Poly High as the head coach when he was in high school, so I'm familiar with Marcus. My son was at Boise State and played against Marcus when he was at Wyoming, so I followed Marcus.
"And then, obviously, I saw him when he was with the Eagles. There's a good relationship there. I mean, we had a lot of side conversations before this even took place.
"He's a guy who has really come in and brought that mature and winnung leadership mentality into our room, into our defense, and really our whole locker room. I mean, you appreciate the maturity that he has, the professionalism that he has, and how he approaches each and every day."
Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham says Epps' leadership has been a positive for the Raiders.
"[Marcus] Epps, again, I think the nature of the position, the safety position, the communication is huge," Graham said. "So naturally, you’re thrust into a leadership role, and thankfully, he's embraced that. And he has natural leadership qualities in terms of the players gravitate to him in the cafeteria, the players gravitate to him when we have team-building exercises.
"So, it's always a positive there. I'd never met him before, but you saw that he was one of the guys from Philadelphia communicating. You heard great things about him, and that's always important for that position. Naturally, that's going to happen to a certain degree, but when it's natural for them to do it, it's an A-plus for us."
Epps had the best season of his career last year and is having arguably his second-best season this year with a roster not nearly as talented as the Eagles are on defense. It is clear that his addition has been a major part of the turnaround on defense for Las Vegas.
The Silver and Black will return to action versus their AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, on Christmas Day at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Don't miss it on Monday, December 25, at 1 p.m. EST/10 a.m. PST.
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