Raiders have tough calls to make on defensive line with cut day looming

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023 | 2 a.m.

At the start of training camp, before practices even began, Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby addressed the team’s entire defensive line.

His words were part encouragement, part wake-up call and a full-fledged challenge.

“I was like, ‘Listen, we’re all in this together but this is an open competition. Everyone’s fighting for a job. You can’t have 18 (defensive linemen) on the roster,’” Crosby recently recounted. “So everyone’s coming in trying to prove a point, trying to prove their worth.”

And, officially 30 days since the full team reported for training camp and just more than two weeks before the start of the regular season, it appears most of the defensive linemen have indeed proven their worth.

Getting Crosby more help in the trenches was a priority throughout the offseason for Las Vegas. Now the task lies more in identifying which players will be the most help to Crosby.

Cuts are coming, with NFL rosters required to be trimmed from 90 to 53 players Tuesday, and Raiders general manager Dave Zielger and coach Josh McDaniels may find their hardest decisions at the front of the defense.

“It’s very competitive,” defensive tackle Bilal Nichols said. “We compete in everything we do, even shooting trash inside the trash can, but that’s what makes us better.”

The defensive line has arguably been the standout unit of Raiders’ training camp with a different depth player seemingly making an impact on a daily basis. Consistent pressure now looks like the biggest cause of the slow start for the Raiders’ offense over the first couple weeks, especially with the way the defense has kept it up against other opponents.

The San Francisco 49ers were left all out of sorts throughout a pair of practices and preseason game going against the Raider’s defensive line. The Los Angeles Rams reportedly fared better in a pair of practices in Southern California last week, and the Raiders were less disruptive in a preseason win against them Saturday, but the defensive line was in no way silenced.

It was more likely strengthened with the practice debut of No. 7 overall pick Tyree Wilson, as the 6-foot-6, 275-pound prospect out of Texas Tech immediately looked the part.

“You see him asking a ton of questions and getting better,” Crosby said. “So, it’s awesome to see him out there with us.”

Crosby, Wilson and Chandler Jones appear to be the only edge rushers certain to make the team. Nichols, Jerry Tillery and 2023 third-round selection Byron Young similarly might be the only the interior defensive linemen considered sure bets for the initial roster with the first two having taken the bulk of the first-team reps all throughout camp.

That means six spots are taken. The Raiders kept 11 defensive linemen last year — six on the interior and five on the edge — for a total that’s not out of the ordinary.

Determining who claims the final five or six spots out of the remaining group of Neil Farrell Jr., Matthew Butler, John Jenkins, Malcolm Koonce, Jordan Willis, Isaac Rochell, Nesta Jade Silvera, Adam Butler, George Tarlas, Adam Plant and David Agoha could come down to the wire. Las Vegas has two more official practices and one final preseason game, at 5 p.m. Saturday on the road against the Dallas Cowboys, to sort it out.

“We’re focusing on the areas that we can improve in and developing our young players and seeing how some of that competition shakes out as we head into the Dallas week,” McDaniels said Sunday when asked about how he approaches the end of training camp.

The Raiders aren’t expected to bring many starters to Dallas. Much scrutiny will therefore be applied to which players travel and what kind of workload they receive.

But the battle along the defensive line for roster spots is so tight that it might come down to who plays well. And that’s difficult to predict because it’s been so varied.

Farrell, a second-year player who’s most likely to make the roster outside of the aforementioned six, has come on strong in the interior since returning from an undisclosed injury at the start of training camp. But Jenkins, a 10-year NFL veteran, made a mark while Farrell was away by consistently blowing up the 49ers and then more recently recovering a fumble in one of the practices with the Rams.

“Everybody's mindset is working on their technique, trying to be harder on themselves and trying to hold everybody accountable, including myself,” Jenkins said. “I'm trying to find my part on this team and just do whatever is required of me to do."

The two Butlers (Matthew and Adam, no relation) haven’t made as many splashy plays, but they have proven steady gap fillers and run stuffers in practice. Silvera hasn’t flashed in the pair of preseason games, but he’s been unblockable at times during practice.

A seventh-round pick like Silvera would typically be far from a guarantee to make the roster, but anyone who’s watched practice would be hard-pressed to describe him as anything other than one of the team’s top-performing defensive tackles.

“The way you stand out is flying to the ball, being mean, having an attitude, and he's one of those guys,” Crosby said of Silvera. “He's plays violent. He's getting better as a rusher, he's getting better against the run. He's able to do a lot of things, so I love what he's doing. I think he's going to be a big-time player for us."

The edge-rushing ranks around Crosby are just as crowded. A number of veterans have raved about Koonce’s improvement in his third year with the Raiders, but longtime NFL veterans Willis and Rochell have shed blockers better in games.

The trio of rookies (Plant, Tarlas and Agoha) look like more likely candidates for the practice squad. Crosby has repeatedly pointed out that he’s happy with the defensive linemen from top to bottom.

“I told literally all the rookies when they came in: Technique is one thing but you can’t coach effort, you can’t coach attitude, you can’t coach the little things you see on film,” Crosby said.

Complicating matters are injuries, including at least one that would qualify as potentially major — Jones, the projected starter on the other side of Crosby, hasn’t practiced in two weeks for undisclosed reasons.

The initial plan was to ease Walker in but, if Jones misses any time during the season, the first-round pick might have to be an every-down player sooner than expected.

Ziegler mentioned the versatility of Walker and Young upon drafting the duo and raised the possibility of them playing both inside and outside positions. Perhaps flexibility in other fringe roster players could influence his ultimate decision-making.

The Raiders aren’t giving many hints yet as to which defensive linemen they’ll carry into the season. Teams typically have a pretty good idea by now in training camp, but this could be one case where the Raiders truly don’t have it all mapped out.

It’s not an easy decision with everyone having followed Crosby’s lead.

“We’re not going to be what we were in the past,” Crosby said. “We’re going to be what we are now, and that’s a confident defense that’s going to fly around. We’re super excited about the direction we’re going.”

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