Oakland Raiders: Five most pressing questions that must be answered
By Kevin Saito
Do They Have Enough At Linebacker?
Oakland’s linebackers have been a sore spot for this defense for time out of mind now. They’ve been iffy in run defense and they’ve been horrendous in pass coverage.
Teams have known for some time now, that they can get tight ends and running backs into pass routes relatively free and clear, and have been exploiting it like there’s no tomorrow. How many times over the past few seasons has an opposing tight end had a “career day” against this Raiders defense? Far too many.
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NaVorro Bowman stepped in midway through the season last year and helped shore up the run defense, but the pass defense was still a liability for the linebackers group.
Seeing that, Gruden has revamped the linebackers room, jettisoning Cory James and letting Bowman walk as a free agent. He’s built the group around Tahir Whitehead, Kyle Wilber, Emmanuel Lamur, sixth-round pick Azeem Victor, and the recently added Kansas City Chiefs stalwart, Derrick Johnson to the mix.
They join returning youngsters Marquel Lee and small school UDFA Nicholas Morrow – of the two Morrow flashed far more upside than Lee in both run and pass defense.
It’s a much different look for this group, but one Gruden is hoping pays dividends in Guenther’s aggressive defensive scheme.
The question though, is this revamped group enough to improve upon the team’s subpar linebacker play the last few seasons? Can this group solidify the run defense at the second level, provide pressure on the quarterback, and be better pass defenders than they’ve been in a long while?
While the changes up front and the talent added to Oakland’s defensive line are certainly going to help, it’s going to be on this group to make plays on their own.