Oakland Raiders: With Pickings Really Slim, A Few Options At Linebacker

The Oakland Raiders are rocketing toward the regular season with a high powered offense and a suspect defense, most notably, at linebacker – here are a few possible options.

With their regular season fast approaching, the Oakland Raiders find themselves in a familiar position – a high powered offense that looks primed to be among the league’s best, and a suspect defense that, if something doesn’t change, could potentially be among the league’s worst. Again.

Posting the league’s twenty-sixth ranked defense, the Raiders rolled into the offseason with some pressing needs – most notably, at linebacker and cornerback.

They addressed the latter by taking Gareon Conley twenty-fourth overall, but the rookie has had a – challenging summer. From a rape investigation – for which, the case was ultimately dropped for a lack of evidence – to a lingering issue that kept him out of camp, the Raiders still have no real idea what sort of return they’ll get on their investment.

As for their need at linebacker, GM Reggie McKenzie waited until the fifth-round to address the issue, taking Marquel Lee out of Wake Forest. He’s young and still needs experience, but at this moment, Lee looks more like a two-down backer. He’s been good against the run, but a liability against the pass – and the Raiders desperately need help against the pass on that second level of their defense.

Right now, the Raiders are poised to go into the season with a linebackers group that includes Lee, Nicholas Morrow, Tyrell Adams, Cory James, and Bruce Irvin.

It’s possible that this group performs better than expected. James looks much improved over a year ago, Morrow was making plays all preseason long – and excelled against the pass – Irvin is always solid, and Adams is a valuable rotation piece.

Although HC Jack Del Rio, Ken Norton Jr., and John Pagano were all comfortable enough with this group to part ways with Shilique Calhoun (addition by subtraction) and Jelani Jankins (which was surprising), this is a group that could still use a little more pop.

Now that rosters have been trimmed, there are a lot of free agents running around out there – a couple of whom could potentially become an asset to a defense that still needs some help.

Let’s be clear though – none of these potential candidates is ideal. But let’s face it, the cupboards are pretty bare right about now and the pickings are very slim. Any potential candidate is going to come with a set of baggage all their own. The question is, would the benefits outweigh the potential pitfalls?

And with the pickin’s as slim as they are, the second question is, can the Raiders – who are a team in desperate need of help – afford to turn their nose up at anybody and not kick the tires on somebody who could potentially help?

With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few potential Band-Aids for Oakland’s situation at linebacker.