![\"nakobe](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1464232847.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Las Vegas Raiders LB Nakobe Dean.<\/p>\n
The Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> found some stability at linebacker for a couple of years when they had Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo on the roster. However, they lost both of them in free agency last offseason.<\/p>\n They decided to go with a bunch of veterans in 2025, with Devin White, Elandon Roberts and Jamal Adams getting most of the snaps. The Raiders had one of the worst linebacker groups in the NFL<\/a> last offseason, and let all three of those aforementioned players leave.<\/p>\n This offseason, the Raiders gave big money to Nakobe Dean<\/a> and Quay Walker<\/a>, who should both be substantial upgrades. Out of the two, Dean is considered the more exciting player, but he\u2019s dealt with some injuries in his career.<\/p>\n If he can stay healthy, he\u2019s going to be a major impact player for the Raiders. Sports Illustrated\u2019s Matt Verderame<\/a> spoke to an NFL executive who believes he was a wise player for the team to pick up.<\/p>\n \u201cNakobe brings instincts, leadership and [a winning] mentality to a young team,\u201d an anonymous NFC general manager told Sports Illustrated.<\/p>\n Dean and Walker played together at Georgia, so they should have quick chemistry. The Raiders might have their best linebacker duo in years.<\/p>\n Do Raiders Have Enough Depth at LB?<\/p>\n Walker and Dean represent huge upgrades at the top of the linebacker room for the Raiders, but the position might not be totally set. They have eight linebackers on the roster, but the aforementioned two are the only ones with significant starting experience.<\/p>\n The Raiders are running a 3-4 base, but they\u2019ll also be running a lot of nickel packages, which will only have two linebackers on the field. If Dean and Walker can stay healthy, the depth shouldn\u2019t be a problem, but both players have missed games. It might be wise for the team to eventually bring in another veteran linebacker.<\/p>\n Is Secondary a Concern for Raiders?<\/p>\n The Raiders\u2019 defense didn\u2019t have a lot of talent last year, but that changed this offseason. Though the team didn\u2019t add many big names, they did add some good young players.<\/p>\n The secondary has a chance to take a major leap forward, but that really depends on how a few rookies play. Despite the moves the Raiders made, Verderame thinks the secondary is a problem.<\/p>\n \u201cThe secondary is also a significant concern, even with the trade for longtime Bills<\/a> nickel corner Taron Johnson, who will turn 30 in July,\u201d Verderame wrote. \u201cJohnson has missed nine games over the past two seasons, a sign that being the force defender in Buffalo for so many years is wearing him down. Expecting him to play more than 80% of the defensive snaps, as he did four of the past five years for Buffalo, may be unrealistic.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the Raiders can find some help at corner\u2014and perhaps they get lucky with fourth-round pick Jermod McCoy\u2019s knee\u2014 that would be a huge boost for new coordinator Rob Leonard. The options are limited on the open market, with the oft-injured L\u2019Jarius Sneed and former Cowboys<\/a> star Trevon Diggs two of the bigger names still available.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAustin Boyd<\/a> has covered the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. A Los Angeles native now based in Las Vegas, his featured work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, and a behind-the-scenes look at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Las Vegas Raiders LB Nakobe Dean. The Las Vegas Raiders found some stability at linebacker for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":885281,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-885280","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-las-vegas","10":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","11":"tag-lasvegas","12":"tag-lasvegasraiders","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116536030954772677","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885280","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=885280"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}