The Las Vegas Raiders re-tooled their linebacker room ahead of the 2025 NFL season. At first, it looked like a massive gamble by general manager John Spytek that paid off, but with a few more weeks of perspective, it became clear that the Raiders made a mistake.
Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo were dominating for their new teams while Devin White and Elandon Roberts struggled mightily in Las Vegas. Germaine Pratt also had a falling out with the team and was released ahead of Week 6's game against the Tennessee Titans.
White, in particular, drew a lot of criticism from the fan base for his performances, and from us as well. Fans were ready for the team to hand the reins at linebacker over to younger players like Tommy Eichenberg and Cody Lindenberg, but White responded with his best game of the season.
Devin White proved Raiders fans wrong with dominant showing vs. Titans
On Sunday, White made it clear from the first drive of the game that he was out for blood against the Titans. He made all three tackles on the opening possession for the defense, and he didn't stop there. Head coach Pete Carroll thoroughly praised his performance in his post-game presser.
"I don't know that anybody could put up more numbers than Devin White did today. Geez," Carroll said. "It's a stat line. So, he made a bunch of plays with a pick, and I think a forced fumble, and tackles for losses, and all that. Nine total tackles is what I saw. That's a great football game for him, and he missed three tackles, if he could have (had those), (he) could have had a ridiculously great game."
According to Pro Football Focus, White actually missed four tackles, but the rest of his stat line was, as Carroll said, ridiculous. He recorded nine tackles, a sack fumble that gave the offense the ball on the Tennessee two-yard line, and an interception that prevented the Titans from scoring at the end of the first half.
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He was also relatively solid in coverage on Sunday, as he gave up eight receptions on nine targets for just 47 yards. Titans quarterback Cam Ward had just a 48.8 quarterback rating when targeting White in Week 6.
Of course, fans hope that White is truly back to playing his best football, as he played well in Week 1 against the New England Patriots before his play plummeted. But something just looked different about him against the Titans, and hopefully, it is here to stay.
Week 7 will bring on an entirely different and much bigger challenge against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Raider Nation won't be writing off White again, and in fact, they'll be relying on him to make a big difference in the AFC West bout.