Nick Kwiatkoski is big addition in middle of Raiders defense

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 | 2 a.m.

Nick Kwiatkoski can bring a lot to the table for the Raiders defense. The fifth-year linebacker has experience, he’s a leader, and he’s a strong communicator on game day and in practice. All of those traits are useful.

But one particular aspect of his skill set stands out as to why Las Vegas made him a top target in free agency: his ability to defend the pass.

The Raiders have struggled mightily in recent years when it comes to defending the middle of the field, and it wasn’t just wide receivers who did the damage. Opposing running backs and tight ends also took turns torching the Raiders’ D in the passing game, often exploiting a linebacking corps that was too slow and unathletic to keep up.  

In a conference call with the media on Monday, Kwiatkowski said covering the middle has to become a team-wide priority.

“For us right now, it’s early,” Kwiatkoski said. “Trying to get the defense down, but it’s something we’ve got to talk about every day and we’re going to work on moving forward.”

If all goes according to plan, Kwiatkowski will be a big part of the solution. He emerged as a key player in substitute packages for the Chicago Bears because of his ability to run with backs and tight ends, and his ball skills made him a surprisingly effective linebacker in coverage.

Last year, the 6-foot-2 Kwiatkoski started eight of 16 games and allowed quarterbacks to complete just 59.5 percent of passes when targeting him, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. He also limited opposing QB’s to just 4.0 yards per target and held them to a collective passer rating of 66.0.

The Raiders signed Kwiatkoski along with former Rams linebacker Cory Littleton with an eye toward completely reshaping their coverage in the middle of the field.

Though they’ve only got a couple days’ worth of time together so far, Kwiatkoski has been impressed by Littleton on the practice field.

“I got a chance to play against him last year and just seeing him now, he’s athletic,” Kwiatkoski said. “Just an all-around linebacker. He does a lot of things well, and I’m just excited to play next to him.”

The Raiders were quite bad at defending the intermediate area of the field last year. Opposing tight ends caught 73 passes for 877 yards and 10 touchdowns, which basically means the Raiders turned every tight end they faced into Rob Gronkowski, whose average season is 58 catches for 873 yards and nine touchdowns.

Running backs were almost as damaging, as they combined to catch 90 passes for 797 yards and six touchdowns.

That’s why the Raiders wanted Kwiatkoski, and after four years of fighting for playing time in Chicago, he said it’s good to feel wanted.

“Initially going into free agency before everything picked up, I really had no idea what was going to happen,” Kwiatkoski said. “I was just kind of playing it by ear. Then the Raiders reached out so early and the way they did, I just knew it was something where I knew I was wanted. It was a no brainer for me.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.