Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Raiders’ new-look defense coming along smoothly despite injuries

Las Vegas adjusting to absences on defensive line and secondary by building depth

raiders jaguars

David Richard / AP

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Marvin Hall runs after a catch with Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Sam Webb defending Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022, in Canton, Ohio.

On Monday in the Raiders’ first practice since their preseason opener, the wide receivers picked apart the defensive backs in a one-on-one drill. On Tuesday, the defensive backs got their revenge.

The team didn’t run the same one-on-one drill from the 10-yard line, but the secondary showed up in a big way during the first 11-on-11 session. Safety Duron Harmon and cornerback Nate Hobbs each had highlight-worthy interceptions.

“It’s a work in progress,” Harmon said of the Raiders’ overall defensive progression. “It’s our third week together, so is it perfect? No, but do we have more good days than bad days? Yes. We’re always striving for perfection even though it’s an imperfect game but the more you strive for perfection, the better you’ll be and that’s our mindset each and every day.”

Raiders’ training camp, which hits its midway point when the team practices again Thursday, sets up as particularly important for the defense. The team is breaking in new systems on both sides of the ball under new coach Josh McDaniels, but the defense is a complete 180.

Former defensive coordinator Gus Bradley had a relatively simplistic setup last year, while new coordinator Patrick Graham is implementing a more complex scheme with multiple different packages. All hasn’t gone smoothly in terms of health either with multiple projected starters — everyone except Hobbs, linebacker Denzel Perryman, safety Tre’von Moehrig and edge rusher Maxx Crosby — having missed multiple practices.

But the Raiders have persevered, and by all accounts, they’re where the coaching staff wants them to be in terms of picking up on Graham’s principles with a month to go before the Sept. 11 regular-season opener at the Los Angeles Chargers.

“You see that we’re trying to form an identity for our athletes and that’s competing every day, improving every play and communicating every play,” defensive backs coach Jason Simmons said. “I really saw that. This team is out here in the sun, working their behinds off and you can see that we’re developing a callous, smart football team.”

Although Crosby is coming off a career year and fellow edge rusher Chandler Jones is one of the NFL’s most decorated pass-rushers, the Raiders’ defense otherwise doesn’t have as much starpower to fall back on as the offense. And that’s why the spate of nagging injuries — the coaches have given no indication that any of them are long-term concerns – may have become a blessing in disguise.

The absence of players like defensive tackles Johnathan Hankins and Bilal Nichols for all of camp, and cornerbacks Rock Ya-Sin and Anthony Averett over the last week, have forced the Raiders to develop depth in useful areas.

The interior defensive line has been an almost constant rotation between veterans Kendal Vickers, Andrew Billings, Kyle Peko, Vernon Butler and Kyle Peko. First-team snaps for draft picks Neil Farrell Jr. and Matthew Butler have been limited, but they’ve picked up in recent days.

The defensive front as a whole, largely led by Crosby, was so thoroughly outplaying the offensive line Tuesday that a brief skirmish broke out. Rookie guard Dylan Parham went after Crosby before the rest of the offensive and defensive lines joined in.

“Everybody was out there competing trying to make one another better so that’s all we were doing today was pushing each other hard and giving the best we’ve got,” Farrell said.

Although it hasn’t boiled over in the same way, a similar competitive energy has brewed between the receivers and cornerbacks. The former has an inherent advantage with Pro Bowlers Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow, but without Ya-Sin and Averett, those fighting for roster spots on the other side of the ball have jumped at the opportunity to face them.

Free-agent cornerback Darius Phillips, signed primarily as a special teams contributor, has flashed multiple times including with an interception. Amik Robertson, who’s struggled in his first two years with the Raiders, has received extended snaps with the starting unit.

And Hobbs has gotten more time on the outside as the team’s No. 1 cornerback, instead of his planned role in the slot, because of the injuries. The second-year player’s interception on Tuesday came when he jumped a route in coverage of Adams.

Undrafted free agent Sam Webb, out of Missouri Western State, tipped the pass that Harmon picked off. Harmon, who’s entering his 10th NFL season, seems to have more interceptions than anyone else in camp.

“He’s a ball magnet,” Simmons said of Harmon. “You see the ball finds him and those are the types of players that we want. He’s a ballhawk. He attacks the ball. He thinks about the ball. He talks about it in meetings, talks about how to make plays to the younger players.”

Sharing knowledge with the rest of the roster is a big reason why the Raiders brought in Harmon, who spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Patriots including three with Graham. He understands the system and has helped with the learning curve.

The Raiders have among the most accomplished set of offensive skill players in the NFL, a core ready to compete for the playoffs and perhaps beyond. They can’t afford to have a slow-developing defense halting their potential.

So far, they’re confident that’s not a problem.

“Coach Graham has done a great job with our scheme,” defensive line coach Frank Okam said. “Really, the only thing we’re trying to get guys to do is, do technique the play requires.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or

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