The Raiders knew they needed to make major upgrades to their defensive roster if they wanted to compete in the AFC this year.
Nearly $90 million in contracts later, the Raiders added five presumed starters in free agency and after three regular season games, the results haven’t been great. In fact, they haven’t even been good.
Cory Littleton 3 yrs, $35.2 million
Through two games, Littleton was the worst-graded defensive player on the Raiders roster, according to Pro Football Focus. He had another rough day on Sunday, so there will probably be 22 Raider defenders rated higher than Littleton tomorrow, too.
Carl Nassib 3 yrs, $25.2 million
Nassib hasn’t been terrible. Nor has he been good. His name doesn’t flash across the television screen very often and that’s not a good thing when you play defensive end in the NFL.
Nick Kwiatkoski 3 yrs, $21 million
Kwiatkoski has played 22 snaps in three games and there hasn’t been much of an indication on when he’ll be back from an injury to his pectoral muscle. The good news is that he wasn’t placed on injured reserve… so there’s a chance Kwiatkoski will be back soon.
Maliek Collins 1 yr, $6 million
Jon Gruden called Collins the “key to the defense” during training camp. And that’s about the last time anyone has mentioned Collins. The snap count sheet says he has been on the field, but the box score tells a different story.
Damarious Randall 1 yr, $1.5 million
Randall flat out didn’t make the team and Erik Harris was named starting safety and team captain. Harris, for what it’s worth, hasn’t made many positive plays. The only player on the defensive roster with a lower PFF score than Harris is Littleton.
In conclusion…
Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther needs to figure out soon how to get more from $90 million in free agents… or Gruden is going to have to find someone who will.
twitter: @raidersbeat
Any inkling what (who 😆) might be the hangup?? I don’t know his name but his initials are Paul Guenther
This article just says it all, doesn’t it? and don’t forget the guy that they signed from the Miami Dolphins that hasn’t even seen the field. And that’s just the defensive side of the ball. Why haven’t some of the Raiders receivers been targeted more than once? like Foster Moreau who has but only catches and gets targeted one ball per game or Rico Gafford orDerek Carrier or Zay Jones or Nelson Agohlor and where is Alec Ingold whom Jon Gruden said in very late August would be an integral part of the Raiders offense? Each one of these guys needs to be targeted at least three to four times per game if for no other purpose than to take some of the heat off of Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow. The good news is that the Raiders have all of these guys. The bad news is that they ARE NOT using all of these guys more than once per game. WHY NOT? They are getting paid. What are they being saved for? Each one of these guys should have at least three catches. It looks like Jon Gruden is going to need all ten years, on his contract, to get this thing working the way that it is supposed to. The truth is that there are “SOME” good players on this team and “SOME” not so good players on this team. Maybe by next week the Raiders will be committed to stopping the run. Maybe not.
Erik Harris should not be team captain. The money they paid Nassib could of been used to pay clowney. Let’s face Cle Ferrel never should of been drafted at 4. They dpen too much on offense and not enough on the defense
DEFENCE WILL AIWAYS KEEP YOU IN THE GAME SHOULD HAVE DRAFTED MORE D THE ONES WE DRAFTED ON D OR PLAYING OK WHAT HAS ARE NUMBER 1 DRAFT CHOICE DONE 4 US 2 CATCHES AN ON THE BENCH WHAT A WASTE
The Raiders defense definitely leaves one scratching their head! I thought the upgrades or so called would yield better results. I’ve been let down. Still time to turn things around but they better start soon. Let’s Go Raiders
I see 2 Raiders that are definitely just in it for the money, and not for the team. Does anybody disagree on Cory Littleton and Trent Brown. What a waste of money.