Las Vegas Raiders 7-round mock draft after first wave of free agency

Linebacker has been a revolving door for what feels like almost a decade. For the first time under the new Gruden era, the Raiders have added two quality linebackers in free agency. While Linebacker isn’t the need it once was, it’s still an area that needs more depth. Appalachian State’s Akeem Davis-Gaither has been a big riser over the last college football season and potential fit for the Raiders linebacking core.

Davis-Gaither is an undersized linebacker who plays with plenty of burst. His slightly thin frame raises many questions about how well he’ll stop the run in NFL. However, today’s game is so reliant on the passing game and Davis-Gaither is suited to move laterally in a fluent matter.

His best trait is short-area quickness and that’s something that many anticipate to translate into a solid defender against tight ends and running backs.

With the Raiders running their defense primarily out of the nickel, more often than not they only run out two linebackers at a time. The additions of Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski project as the team’s future starters but drafting Davis-Gaither would help fill out the linebacker position with help from Nicholas Morrow and Marquel Lee.