Handing out the Las Vegas Raiders 2023 season awards

Comeback Player of the Year: Divine Deablo

The Raiders selected Divine Deablo with the No. 80 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and since then, we have been waiting for his breakout season. Unfortunately for Deablo, he has been bitten by the injury bug early on in his career, but in 2023, he broke out in a big way, and will be a big part of the Raiders future going forward.

Deablo had a terrific rookie season in 2021, appearing in all 17 games for the Silver and Black, though he started only five. Last season, Deablo was moved into the starting lineup full time, and already had 74 tackles through eight games before an injury ended his season.

Still, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham saw enough from Deablo to give him the green dot in minicamp, and he rewarded Graham by becoming a legitimate player at the NFL level. Deablo shook off the injury in 2022 to rack up over 100 tackles this past season, three times going over the ten-tackle mark in 15 starts.

This Raiders defense grew as a unit in 2023, and Deablo was a big reason for their success. Guys like he and Malcolm Koonce have went from a question mark to cornerstone players for this team moving forward, and going into only his fourth season, the sky really is the limit for Deablo.