Our Defense

[erickench]

If we're really gonna run a 3-4 then these depth charts should show it. Our line should consist of Hemingway, Laula, and Fatukasi with Crosby and Paye as our OLBs. Crosby played linebacker in high school. The position is not entirely strange to him.

[mranquales]

Until we have a solid NT, we will never have a good defense no matter what scheme we run.

[Attyla]

Until we have a solid NT, we will never have a good defense no matter what scheme we run.

Uhhhh.....you only need a nose tackle in a base 3-4 defense or a variation of a 3-4. If we run a 4-3 for instance, you don't need a NT

[CWood24]

Until we have a solid NT, we will never have a good defense no matter what scheme we run.

Fatukasi seems to be that guy with Tim Keenan being signed to the PS as a backup, he looks perfect for a guy who’ll play maybe 25% of the snaps or 30% with cwrtain matchups

Wade Phillips showed us that you can run a 3-4 look successfully without a traditional NT

There are also alot of 4/3 fronts where teams don’t run with a NT & use a 3 tech to lineup as 1 tech guys like Jim Schwartz & Mike MacDonald

Guys like Butler, Hemingway, Booker, Laulu & Pegues have the fast first step & explosiveness necessary to fulfil that interior role in the way Leonard seems to favour

Coincidently Leonard worked under MacDonald in Baltimore

Adam Butler has worked as that explosive 3 that plays as 1 in the past & been successful

The truth is if you can’t get a Vea or a Lawrence then your aswell with a dedicated role player like Fatukasi who’ll come in help the run & eat up space but wont provide much else

[mranquales]

Fatukasi seems to be that guy with Tim Keenan being signed to the PS as a backup, he looks perfect for a guy who’ll play maybe 25% of the snaps or 30% with cwrtain matchups

We desperately need him to be peak Billings (Seahawks game). If he can provide that, we have a chance.

Wade Phillips showed us that you can run a 3-4 look successfully without a traditional NT

Wade Phillips is a genius so he can do stuff like that.

Guys like Butler, Hemingway, Booker, Laulu & Pegues have the fast first step & explosiveness necessary to fulfil that interior role in the way Leonard seems to favour

That Aaron Donald/Warren Sapp method only works if your players are really good. Our guys aren't.

Adam Butler has worked as that explosive 3 that plays as 1 in the past & been successful

Butler needs to be cut. He's holding our defense back. He has work ethic, but you need talent, and he's too old to give us any.

[raidersince63]

Butler needs to be cut. He's holding our defense back. He has work ethic, but you need talent, and he's too old to give us any.

He just turned 32 and during the 5 years before he came to Vegas, he had only started in a total of 13 games, and only 31 starts in 3 years with the Raiders. So it's not like he has a ton of miles on him...I think he still might have something left in the tank.

[Goodtimes333]

Fatukasi seems to be that guy with Tim Keenan being signed to the PS as a backup, he looks perfect for a guy who’ll play maybe 25% of the snaps or 30% with cwrtain matchups

Wade Phillips showed us that you can run a 3-4 look successfully without a traditional NT

There are also alot of 4/3 fronts where teams don’t run with a NT & use a 3 tech to lineup as 1 tech guys like Jim Schwartz & Mike MacDonald

Guys like Butler, Hemingway, Booker, Laulu & Pegues have the fast first step & explosiveness necessary to fulfil that interior role in the way Leonard seems to favour

Coincidently Leonard worked under MacDonald in Baltimore

Adam Butler has worked as that explosive 3 that plays as 1 in the past & been successful

The truth is if you can’t get a Vea or a Lawrence then your aswell with a dedicated role player like Fatukasi who’ll come in help the run & eat up space but wont provide much else

Mike Mac always had big bodied down 3 in Baltimore, at Michigan, and also at Seattle. Murphy is a legit NT and they also had Jarran Reed & John Hankins. Basically 3 guys who can play nose. I'm feeling much better with Fatukasi & Keenan now. I wanted two NT's and now that's a thing. That can work with all the other 3 tech guys

[Goodtimes333]

Not all nose tackles are built the same. People think of a fat f[raiders_icon]ck Siragusa as the only nose. Byron Murphy from Seattle is 305 but 6 foot flat. His body composition and brute strength makes him hard to move. Seattle often times has basically two nose tackles on the field with Leonard Williams as a 5 tech.

Fatukasi was signed off the street and made an immediate impact. That dude should be out there often, run or pass. Doesn't matter. Tim Keenan is built like a brick shit house & is very hard to move. The Rams are stacked on the Dline and makes sense they cut him loose, as they just don't have the room. The Raiders benefit from that stacked Rams line. If he shows up at practice he's gonna be elevated. Pagues has some potential but if Keenan out plays him, they should swap roles from 53 to PS

[mranquales]

Fatukasi was signed off the street and made an immediate impact. That dude should be out there often, run or pass. Doesn't matter.

Yup, which tells you everything you need to know about our defensive line, and our defensive personnel in general. I wouldn't be surprised if Darrell Luter Jr. ends up being a starter for us. I'm not impressed with Taron Johnson.

[Goodtimes333]

Yup, which tells you everything you need to know about our defensive line, and our defensive personnel in general. I wouldn't be surprised if Darrell Luter Jr. ends up being a starter for us. I'm not impressed with Taron Johnson.

To be fair, an impact NT can be had for pretty cheap and in a way you wouldn't expect. Poona Ford was bouncing around for a while and finally got a big deal with the Rams. Andrew Billings was the same until he parlayed a good year with the Raiders into a 3-4 year stay with the Bears. Kyris Tonga went from Vikings, Bears, Pats on cheap one year deals until the Chiefs anteed up. Lots of situations like that happen. Now, the NT who can pass rush consistently plus hold the line doesn't go anywhere. Pretty rare. Vea and Lawrence come to mind

[ELCAraiderfan]

I am interested to see what the Rams D does now that Donald unretired. Him along with Myles DAMN! Have we had two of their caliber playing in same D line for awhile now?

[Attyla]

Every year someone says our D will be a lot better, and I am like...

[raidersince63]

I am interested to see what the Rams D does now that Donald unretired. Him along with Myles DAMN! Have we had two of their caliber playing in same D line for awhile now?

I dunno, he's 35 and has been away from the game for nearly 3 years and probably is not in tip top game shape and as far as I know, no camp and no preseason games.

Now if we were talking about the Aaron Donald of 3-4 years ago, yeah, that would be something to see.

But I just don't believe that he will simply step back on the field and somehow be just as dominant.

[Opoponax50]

Every year someone says our D will be a lot better, and I am like...

Yep. Our defense sucks until it doesn't.

Fortunately, they'll probably get more help from our offense this year, but no one should forget how many long drives they gave up after our offense would manage to score a TD. Also, we seemed as likely to give up a first down on 3rd and 12 just as much as on 3rd and 2.

[ELCAraiderfan]

I think everyone is going to be surprised by the Raiders Defense this year.

[mstrbass2000]

were gonna have a very hard time of stopping miami's achane week 1