HENDERSON (KTNV) \u2014 After a quietly impressive rookie season, Raiders defensive lineman Jonah Laulu is turning heads at training camp \u2014 and he\u2019s doing it in his hometown.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Meet Jonah Laulu<\/p>\n
Next man up: Hometown Raider Jonah Laulu emerging as defensive force at training camp<\/p>\n
Laulu, a Centennial High School graduate and former standout at Hawai\u2019i and Oklahoma, was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL Draft. After being waived at final cuts, he returned to Las Vegas and made the Raiders\u2019 53-man roster, appearing in all 17 games for the Raiders in 2024. <\/p>\n
With veteran Christian Wilkins no longer on the roster, Laulu is competing for a much bigger role \u2014 and Raiders head coach Pete Carroll has taken notice.<\/p>\n
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KTNV<\/p>\n
\u201cJonah hasn’t done anything but the right stuff so far,\u201d Carroll said. \u201cHe\u2019s shown us the flexibility to play different spots\u2026 he\u2019s playing really hard, really smart, and making a bid for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
That bid is being backed by one of the most respected leaders in the locker room.<\/p>\n
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KTNV<\/p>\n
\u201cJonah is a special talent,\u201d said defensive end Maxx Crosby. \u201cDude can play. He doesn\u2019t even know it yet, but he\u2019s going to be a hell of a player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laulu\u2019s maturity has extended beyond the field. During the NFL\u2019s summer break, he volunteered at a youth literacy event at Aliante Library in North Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere wasn\u2019t that many people from Vegas in the NFL,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I think it\u2019s cool that as a Vegas native I get to go out and do that for other kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
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KTNV<\/p>\n
Known for his quiet demeanor, Laulu surprised many by sharing his love for fantasy novels. He says reading is his way of recharging between practices and games.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day we\u2019re still regular people,\u201d Laulu said. \u201cNot just some meatheads. I read books. A lot of guys on the team do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, the Vegas native is focused on turning confidence into consistency \u2014 and writing the next chapter of his story right where it began.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HENDERSON (KTNV) \u2014 After a quietly impressive rookie season, Raiders defensive lineman Jonah Laulu is turning heads at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239369,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[5684,5685,5686,7,5687,1744,5688,5689,393,5690,2455,2454,6,5691,5692,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-239368","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-13-action-news","9":"tag-abc-13","10":"tag-allegiant-stadium","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-ktnv-tv-channel-13","13":"tag-las-vegas","14":"tag-las-vegas-football-team","15":"tag-las-vegas-nfl","16":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","17":"tag-las-vegas-sports","18":"tag-lasvegas","19":"tag-lasvegasraiders","20":"tag-nfl","21":"tag-nfl-football-in-las-vegas","22":"tag-nfl-las-vegas","23":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114923341457929332","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239368\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}