When the Las Vegas Raiders' offseason began, it was anyone's guess as to how John Spytek and the front office would go about upgrading their swiss cheese-like roster. Thankfully, they had no shortage of avenues to achieve this, as they sat upon a mountain of resources and a major need to use them.
As could be seen from a mile away at the onset of the season, the Raiders' linebacker corps was one of, if not the worst, unit in the NFL last year. The three Las Vegas linebackers who played the most snaps in 2025 are all still unsigned. Nobody even wants the team's core players from last campaign.
It made sense, then, that the Silver and Black attacked the linebacker position this offseason, as they signed studs Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean within minutes of each other. These two undoubtedly improve the group, but the depth behind them is still very much a question mark to Raider Nation.
But maybe it shouldn't be?
Las Vegas Raiders LB coach fawns over depth of his unit
Walker is already impressing at OTAs in Las Vegas, but Dean's unexplained absence has once again brought the linebacker depth concerns to the forefront. Free agent signing Segun Olubi could be a rotational piece, but Tommy Eichenberg and Cody Lindenberg are very much unproven commodities.
Linebackers coach Ronell Williams, however, spoke to reporters on Tuesday, and he quelled some of the concerns about the players behind Walker and Dean. When asked about the depth behind those two, he gave the aforementioned three players their flowers.
"It's beautiful," Williams said of the unit's depth. "The utmost respect for special teams, but when I see the way Segun runs around on the field, that's not just a special teams player. That man is a specimen, right? The way I see Tommy and Cody flying around, their attention to detail, their football IQ, is far beyond just special teams. So yes, they are studs on special teams, but the depth in that room is beautiful."
An obvious follow-up question to that was what the Raiders' new linebackers coach has seen from Eichenberg and Lindenberg, who have shown flashes on special teams over the years but have never been given a full workload at the linebacker spot. Williams delivered some more optimism.
"Cody has been phenomenal this offseason through his development, building his confidence, and flashing and making plays. You can see his belief in himself start to take off," Williams said. "And Tommy has a hunger about him. If you've ever been around Tommy, the intensity that he just operates with on a day-to-day basis is in the likes of Quay, if you will. Just very intense. Everything is intentional."
Las Vegas seems to be angling toward a defense that only needs two off-ball linebackers on the field at one time. So, if both Walker and Dean are healthy and as advertised, then the Raiders really only need one player capable of rotating in to spell either of the starters. But the more the merrier.
And it sounds like, at least before practices become full-contact and the live bullets are flying, the team's entire linebacker contingent is showing some promise. Undrafted free agent Xavian Sorey Jr. is also an intriguing player in the mix for a spot on the 53-man team or the practice squad.
Perhaps Raider Nation has been jaded by years of bad coaching. Maybe all these young players need is the right staff to develop them into the players that they were drafted to be, and band-aid veteran signings or simply drafting another player isn't the solution. Maybe patience and teaching are.
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