Las Vegas Raiders: 5 players trending up at 2021 training camp
Las Vegas Raiders: 5 players trending up at 2021 training camp
No. 3: LB Cory Littleton
We have talked quite a bit about the struggles Cory Littleton had in 2020 but he looked good at the end of the year under Rod Marinelli and was starting to play his best football in Silver and Black. Now he gets a full offseason to learn Gus Bradley’s new system and reports suggest he will be the starter alongside Morrow but with some new wrinkles to how he will be used.
Bradley has previously suggested that he could use Littleton more on the edge and he recently talked up Littleton’s coverage skills. Bradley said, as quoted by SI, that “we looked at him in free agency a couple years ago and his seven-on-seven, defending the pass, his skill set, very good. I really like his movement skills”.
The coordinator is a big fan of Littleton in coverage but he did express some concern about him as a run defender and said, “Now you’re a B gap linebacker, or an A gap linebacker in our scheme, how are you versus the run? So, that’s the biggest challenge for him but he’s got length and in our system some guys that are a little bit lighter…those guys have a place in our system”.
Littleton’s speed has always been his biggest asset but his lower weight has been a detriment in some cases when he has to make plays in the run game. We can trust Bradley and his staff to put Littleton in the best position to succeed so his assets can be used to his advantage and his deficiencies can be minimized.
He is an exciting playmaker when used correctly and reports from camp suggest he is getting back to that form.