The Las Vegas Raiders are poised to overhaul a significant portion of their roster this offseason, with ample cap space and plenty of draft capital to fortify their efforts. Both sides of the ball should get plenty of attention on that front, from viewed holdovers up to rock-solid future mainstays.
Klint Kubiak's publicly professed switch to a 3-4 base defensive scheme is easily overblown in most respects. But there is no doubt about the need for more playmakers on that side of the ball, particularly at the linebacker position.
ESPN's Aaron Schatz has freshly matched one pending free agent with each NFL team. His match for the Raiders was Green Bay Packers linebacker Quay Walker.
"The Raiders could use playmakers all across their defense, and both of last season's starting linebackers are free agents," Schatz wrote. "Walker had 128 combined tackles with the Packers last season and has sideline-to-sideline speed to track down running backs. He can be used as a blitzer as well. The Raiders would just need to make sure their other linebacker is strong in coverage, as that's a weakness for Walker."
That the Raiders "would just need to make sure their other linebacker is strong in coverage" if they sign Walker is a rough thought, and a repeat of a move made last offseason.
Raiders signing Quay Walker would have real shades of Devin White 2.0
Despite his attempt to affirm otherwise, Devin White was awful in coverage last season for Las Vegas. His Pro Football Focus coverage grade (34.9) was 76th out of 80 qualified off-ball linebackers, with a 79 percent completion rate and a 92.5 passer rating allowed when targeted (per PFF).
By PFF grade, White was also a lackluster run defender last season, with a 47.0 grade (No. 86 of 93 qualifiers). Similar to White last season, Walker padded his stat sheet in Green Bay with tackles, along with some production as a pass rusher, while failing to make much actual impact.
Walker's coverage numbers were marginally better than White's were, but still very bad, and he actually allowed a higher passer rating. His impact as a run defender was not noticeably better than White's was.
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The primary difference between White and Walker is age, and even that's only about a two-year gap. Walker's relative youth also lines him up to get a multi-year deal from someone, with Spotrac projecting a three-year deal worth nearly $25 million.
Having a linebacker who is a huge liability in coverage can work out if he can be hidden from having to do so, and opposing offenses can't place a bullseye on him over and over. But that's not exactly a solution to the core problem.
Maybe defensive coordinator Rob Leonard can succeed where Patrick Graham failed there in a defense that has more talent overall. But otherwise, the Raiders have been there and done that with poor coverage linebackers, and Walker is hard to see as a great fit.