The Las Vegas Raiders go back to the interior defensive line by selecting Tennessee’s Matthew Butler in the fifth round, but did they get the pick right?
In the fourth round, the Las Vegas Raiders drafted LSU’s Neil Farrel Jr to address the lack of depth at nose tackle. They have now double-dipped on the interior, but it is 3-tech Matthew Butler out of Tennessee this time.
It seemed like the Raiders made a conscious effort to strengthen their defensive line, and now we could be seeing a formidable rotation on the inside going forward.
So the question is, did the Raiders get the pick right?
Butler had an excellent pre-draft process as he dominated the shire bowl practices and showed great quickness and jump off the ball. That also translates to the testing numbers he had with a 32″ vertical (80th percentile) and a 112″ broad (87th percentile). The Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner called him perhaps the smartest player he’s ever coached, and he was a team captain in 2021.
He is average size for a defensive tackle, and multiple analysts have mentioned his lack of ability to stack and shed blockers, making him a situation player to start his career. His play strength will need to improve, and NFL coaching should help him refine his technique.
However, the biggest concern is that he didn’t have much production until his fifth year. And at 22-years old, it could be a case of him getting the best of younger players.
In his defense, the constant changes at Tennessee did him no favors, so the hope is that a more consistent environment will help him flourish. Overall, he has the potential to be a nice depth piece on this defensive line rotation which is something the front office clearly values. So there is not much reason to say they got the pick wrong.