Oakland Raiders: Three most important offseason additions

Tahir Whitehead, LB

The addition of Tahir Whitehead to the team is an acquisition that has little to do with the new system being brought with Jon Gruden, but more to do with addressing a roster weakness.

With Bruce Irvin making the move to defensive end, and Navarro Bowman still unsigned, the signing of Whitehead is the only thing keeping the current linebacker core from being a black hole completely devoid of talent.

The team electing not to address this position heavily in the draft makes the presence of Whitehead that much more important.

Whitehead formerly played for the Detroit Lions, where he had great seasons in both 2016 and 2017 before joining the Oakland Raiders. 2016 was his most statistically productive season to date, as he brought in 132 total tackles.

In 2017, Pro Football Focus ranked Whitehead as the 25th best linebacker in the NFL, based on his performance in that season alone. In that season Whitehead registered 110 combined tackles.

He is a very versatile player, best suited to play outside linebacker in the team’s 4-3 system. If the team does not elect to resign Navarro Bowman, or bring in any other middle linebacker, Whitehead will be able to fill that hole.

That versatility is exactly what makes Whitehead such an impactful signing for the team.