Oakland Raiders: Tahir Whitehead needs to build on second half success

The Oakland Raiders have done a nice job bringing in talent at the linebacker position this offseason, but a familiar face is still a most important piece.

During the 2018 offseason, one of the bigger splashes the Oakland Raiders made was bringing in linebacker Tahir Whitehead. For Whitehead, the Raiders would be only his second stop in a seven-year NFL career, and he came in expecting to be a tackling machine for a very weak defense.

In his final season with the Detroit Lions, who drafted him in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft, Whitehead put together his third straight season with over 100 tackles. His 126 tackles were the second-highest total of his career, as he tied a career-high with nine tackles for a loss.

After putting on the Silver and Black, Whitehead struggled mightily in his first games with the Raiders, and many felt this was another terrible signing. However, Whitehead turned it on in the second half of the season, becoming one of the better linebackers in all of football.

Pro Football Focus broke down his year in two halves, and you can see that he was a much better player from Weeks 10-17.

Whitehead started all 16 games for Oakland last season, and had nine tackles in each of his last two games. The Raiders played much better as a team late in the year, and that is a direct correlation to the fact that their leader on defense really picked up his game.

It is crucial to the Raiders success in 2019 that Whitehead is the player he was in the second half of the year. Remember, there is a lot of young talent behind him itching to get into the starting lineup, and after bringing in veterans Brandon Marshall and Vontaze Burfict this offseason, there is suddenly a cluster of solid talent at linebacker.

This is a position group that has the talent to be much better in 2019, as they have a solid blend of both older and younger players at all three spots. Whitehead was brought in last year to be a leader on this defense, and if he is the kind of player we saw in the second half in 2018, the Raiders are in good shape with Whitehead at one of those outside linebacker spots.