Las Vegas Raiders: 2021 Post-draft 53 man roster prediction
Las Vegas Raiders: 2021 Post-draft 53 man roster prediction
Defensive Tackles: Solomon Thomas, Quinton Jefferson, Johnathan Hankins, David Irving
The Raiders had some major struggles at the defensive tackle position in 2020 as highly touted free agent Maliek Collins was awful and Mo Hurst was not able to recreate his great rookie season. Johnathan Hankins was the only DT to have a good season and even he was not enough to keep the Raider defensive line from getting gashed in the run game.
Hankins was a free agent and returned the Raiders on a one-year deal so expect him to be one of the starters at the position.
The Raiders also brought back David Irving who was reinstated by the NFL after being suspended for the 2019 season but he only featured in two games in 2020. The team obviously liked what they saw from him in practice and in those cameo appearances and his ability to rush the passer from the interior should see him grab another roster spot.
Solomon Thomas and Quinton Jefferson both signed one-year “prove it” deals to try and earn long-term deals but the more intriguing of the two is Thomas. We know Quinton Jefferson is a solid DT with some upside but Thomas is a former top-five pick who believes he was played out of position in San Francisco as a defensive end.
Thomas excelled as a DT at Stanford and the Raiders will hope he is fully recovered from a knee injury that ended his 2020 season after two games and ready to prove he was worth that top pick.
The Raiders have two other very interesting players on the roster in Darius Philon and Darius Stills. Philon was a good player with the Chargers for 4 years and signed a big-money deal with the Cardinals ahead of the 2019 season but never played for them due to an off-the-field incident. Philon could be a potential steal if he shows he can be back to his 2018 level of play.
Stills is another intriguing player who went undrafted this year despite many analysts giving him a 4th-6th round grade. He was a Consensus All-American, Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year, and was First Team All-Big 12 in 2020 and it was a shock that no teams wanted to take a chance on him. He is a bit undersized at 6-0, 278lbs but could end up being a steal if he can make the roster.