The Las Vegas Raiders made an ill-advised decision this offseason when they let both starting linebackers leave in free agency. Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo are now starring for the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons, respectively, while the Raiders' linebacker corps is a mess.
Instead of relying on young talent, head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek grabbed seemingly the oldest and most experienced crew of linebackers to counterbalance a young and inexperienced secondary.
While the thought was that this aging group would fill in the gaps of a defensive backfield that most expected to be porous, the opposite has been true. The secondary is patching up holes that the linebackers leave, and one player, in particular, looks washed through the first quarter of the season.
Raiders need a better solution at linebacker than Devin White
Devin White was signed by the Raiders this offseason to a one-year, $1.17 million deal. None of it was guaranteed, so it was a low-risk, high-reward proposition for Las Vegas. But fans were hoping that he was not going to be counted out to play a significant role, and yet, he has been a starter all year long.
It is understandable for Spytek and minority owner Tom Brady, who saw White at his best while all three were members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Super Bowl-winning team in 2020, to give him another chance in the NFL.
But it defies logic to keep White out there when he is clearly struggling, and the defense, as a whole, is suffering as a result. After a strong Week 1 showing, White has displayed every sign of being washed, as his issues with tackling and pass coverage are apparent.
In Week 5 against the Indianapolis Colts, he recorded a 27.5 Pro Football Focus grade, including a mark of 29.8 or lower in every facet of the game other than pass-rush. This made him the lowest-graded Raiders defender for the second-straight week, and he's the second-lowest the whole year.
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Before Sunday's game, White had a season-long PFF grade of 46.7, which included a 42.0 mark against the run. This is simply unacceptable for a linebacker who also doesn't cover very well, and it is proof that the Colts game was not a one-off, but an indication of who he is anymore as a player.
White was targeted six times in Indianapolis and gave up six receptions for 46 yards while also whiffing on nearly 30% of his tackle attempts. Last week, the team tried to get him going at middle linebacker, instead of on the outside where he had been playing, but to no avail.
Although White was among the best in the league in his heyday, and his connections to the new blood in the organization may keep him around, Las Vegas cannot afford to keep trotting him out on the field and claiming that they are a team that is trying to win.
It would behoove the Raiders to move younger players like Tommy Eichenberg and Cody Lindenberg into more meaningful roles, because the team is not going anywhere in 2025. Sitting White or limiting his snaps won't even be painful because of his cheap contract, which has been all risk and no reward.