The Las Vegas Raiders' defense has not been the sieve many expected it to be going into the 2025 NFL season. Patrick Graham's unit is allowing just 16.5 points per game, which is tied for fifth in the league, and they have the fourth-best run defense in the league, allowing just 70.5 yards per game.
Las Vegas' pass defense is the sixth-worst in the league, but they've faced 36.5 attempts per game, which is tied for the eighth-most. Pete Carroll turned over the Raiders' defense this offseason, and so far, so good. The offense was the far bigger issue during their 20-9 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
But the early part of the season, even with a small sample size, is also a time to evaluate and find margins where changes make sense. It can be dangerous to make any dramatic changes, especially when the unit is playing well, but some tweaks to the operation have already revealed themselves.
Jamal Adams needs to be on the field more for Raiders
Through two games, can you guess who Pro Football Focus has as the Raiders' highest-graded defender? If you said Jamal Adams, you probably already looked. The once-criticized free agent signing has been a complete revelation for Graham and the defense at outside linebacker.
Adams is not only the highest-graded defender in Las Vegas, but he has the fourth-best overall PFF grade among off-ball linebackers through Week 2. His 90.5 pass rush grade is also the second-best at the position, and his 82.0 coverage grade is the eighth-best.
While his role in Graham's defense is pretty unique and niche, one would assume that he has played quite a bit. However, Adams has played just 44 of a possible 129 defensive snaps, which means he is on the field just 34.1% of the time. This includes just 19 out of 58 snaps against the Chargers.
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As his career has gone on, Adams has been easily tabbed as a coverage liability and essentially a linebacker in a safety's body. But 24 of his 44 snaps through two games this season have been considered coverage snaps by PFF, with a total of just two catches allowed for a mere six yards.
When healthy, Adams has been an asset as a blitzer throughout his career. According to PFF, he has two pressures on seven pass rush snaps so far this season. The Raiders don't have a major issue there, with six sacks through two games, but it would have been nice to use Adams to generate more heat on Justin Herbert in Week 2.
What an increased role would look like is for Graham to figure out, and Adams' age and past durability issues have to be taken into account. But Adams has shown he's worthy of a larger role in the Raiders' defense, despite most believing that he was a waste of a signing or a mere training camp body.