Las Vegas Raiders: Linebacker additions who fit Gus Bradley’s scheme

Draft Prospects who fit this profile for the Raiders

Zaven Collins – LB, Tulsa

Zaven Collins could be under strong consideration come April in the Raiders draft room. Collins has enjoyed a precipitous rise this season and has certainly played himself into the first round of the upcoming NFL Draft.

Collins is a big stocky linebacker who, at 6’4 260lbs, has a prototypical body type of an edge rusher. However his experience at linebacker makes the idea of playing two roles with the Raiders, Sam LB in the base, and Edge rusher in Nickel not too farfetched.

Joseph Ossai – LB, Texas

Joseph Ossai is another tweener type of player who played both edge and off-ball linebacker positions for the Texas defense during his collegiate career. He plays with a lot of juice rushing the passer and his first step out of a standing start is one of the best parts of his game.

Is he an edge rusher or is he a linebacker? If he joins the Raiders in 2021, the answer is “yes”. If he’s available when the Raiders make their second-round pick this would be a no-brainer.

Charles Snowden – LB, Virginia

Listed at 6’7 240lbs, Charles Snowden’s stature conjures up visions of Ted Hendricks. He played Edge and Linebacker for the Cavaliers, ending 15th all-time in school history with 15.0 sacks. Snowden is a head-scratcher because his length equals edge defender, but his weight equals linebacker.

He is likely a few years away in terms of the weight room before he could be a full-time edge rusher in the NFL, so this would be a great developmental pick for the Raiders to make in the mid-rounds and allow Snowden to be eased in by playing him on select downs to give new looks to opposing offenses.