Las Vegas Raiders: Potential starters that need to play in the preseason

Las Vegas Raiders: Potential starters that need to play in the preseason

Nick Kwiatkoski and Cory Littleton

Nick Kwiatkoski and Cory Littleton are the headline additions to the Raiders defense and will need to prove how quickly they can grasp DC Paul Guenther’s defensive scheme. If the Raiders stick with their preferred formation with two linebackers and five defensive backs, this duo will be manning the second level on their own.

Kwiatkoski is projected as the starter at MLB which comes with the green dot so he will need to use the preseason to show how comfortable he is as the defensive playcaller. He can begin to do this in practice and in the virtual meetings but making these calls during live game action is a different challenge altogether.

In Littleton’s case the need may not be as strong as he will not be required to make the calls on defense but is still learning a new scheme during a strange offseason. He is a veteran player who was a starter for two years so the learning curve should not be as steep but getting reps in Guenther’s scheme will be helpful when the games start to count.