With Christian Wilkins no longer with the Raiders, there has been a lot of speculation around who might fill the void on the interior of the defensive line.
There is no obvious replacement for Wilkins on the roster, but Maxx Crosby dropped a hint last week, even before Wilkins was released, that might carry a little more weight today.
Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers talked last week about comments Crosby made on Wednesday and Myers believes we might have gotten a hint on how the coaching staff is going use Tyree Wilson this year.
“It sounded like… when Maxx Crosby was talking about the defensive line, he had mentioned that Tyree is getting some looks inside,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast. “So he had already kind of hinted at that, but then [Maxx] cleaned it up and said, ‘Well, you know, he’s got some looks inside the last couple of seasons.’”
“But that stood out to me when Maxx said that, and that’s when he met with us on Wednesday following practice, to the point where Paul Gutierrez was standing next to me, and I kind of looked at him like, ‘Wait, did you just catch that too?’” Myers continued. “The way he said it, and then he cleaned it up. Maxx knows the media game, right?”
“He’s got the podcast, he’s in the media all the time. So he knows when, if you say something, I’ll say, ‘Hey man, I got to clean that up a little bit’ or whatever. So that did stand out to me.”
Until Wilson is on the field at defensive tackle, it’s all speculation, but when two media personalities as close to the team as Gutierrez and Myers think the former first-round pick might be in line for more reps at defensive tackle, it’s worth taking note.
There has been a contingent of fans and analysts who have argued for a while that Wilson is better suited to be an interior defensive lineman, and it sounds like the plan under head coach Pete Carroll might be to give him more opportunities in that role going forward.
As for Wilkins, the Raiders are going after more than $35 million in guaranteed money from the contract he signed with the team a little over a year ago.
On Friday, Chat Sports host Mitchell Renz reported there was some kind of incident between Wilkins and the organization that might have played a role in his departure.
“Multiple sources indicated to me today that Wilkins had ‘issues with players, coaches and staff members,’” Renz said on the Raiders Report, adding that another source told him Wilkins ‘wasn’t buying in’ in recent months.
“This is probably the thing that I’ve got to figure out and do a little bit more homework on,” Renz continued. “I’m just going to say this… a certain incident [happened] between Christian Wilkins and the Raiders. The first source told me ‘It was weird. That’s all I can say.’” Another source told me today ‘We are better off without him’ and another source told me ‘Yeah, we can’t say. Sorry, bro. I just can’t say it.’
“One of those sources is the person that indicated to me that the Las Vegas Raiders were not happy with Christian Wilkins, that they thought he needed that second surgery and Wilkins didn’t want to have it, so obviously this is someone that is very tied in with the organization [and] the whole situation going on with Wilkins.”
Renz said he doesn’t know specifically what happened in the “incident” involving Wilkins.
x: @raidersbeat
Tyree Wilson is a bust. Try him on the inside, however if he doesn’t perform like a beast in the preseason, cut the dog loose. What a wasted 1st rd pick. Completely worthless.