The Las Vegas Raiders welcomed a new regime this offseason, and with it, plenty of new faces. Unfortunately, that meant moving on from several draft steals and fan favorites from previous years.
While it is hard to argue with overhauling a roster that won just four games last year, new general manager John Spytek and head coach Pete Carroll were still dragged for a handful of their free agency decisions.
Letting both starting linebackers — Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo — leave without a contract was thought to be a bit careless and short-sided. Raider Nation has been begging the new leadership to address the position all offseason, but most feel that the team has failed to find two sufficient replacements.
Raiders' linebacker room continues to be questioned
Last week, Bleacher Report's Matt Holder provided a list of the biggest questions facing each NFL team after OTAs. To no surprise, he felt that the Raiders' biggest question concerned the linebacker room.
"Can the young linebackers step up?" Holder asked. "The Raiders are replacing both 2024 starting linebackers this season and are currently expected to use free-agent additions Elandon Roberts and Devin White for the roles. However, especially since those two are on one-year deals, the organization would benefit from one or two of its young players at the position stepping up and becoming a starter."
While coach Carroll is going to play whoever is performing the best at practice, Holder is correct that it would behoove the team to have a stronger outlook for the future at linebacker. Roberts is as solid as they come and should be a shoo-in to start, but both White and veteran Jaylon Smith are a bit past their prime and come with question marks themselves.
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Fortunately, The Athletic's Tashan Reed reported that both Roberts and White looked good in pass coverage at Raiders OTAs, and that Smith recorded an interception off a deflected pass. Coverage was the biggest concern for these aging players, but it seems like they are holding up just fine thus far.
Still, young players like 2024 fifth-round pick Tommy Eichenberg, second-year undrafted player Amari Gainer and 2025 seventh-rounder Cody Lindenberg need to step up if this Las Vegas defense wants to have a chance this year.
Roberts did praise his young teammates, Eichenberg in particular, when speaking to the media last week. However, Raider Nation is going to need to see it for themselves before believing that this linebacker room can compete in an AFC conference filled with the best quarterbacks and pass-catchers in the league.