The Las Vegas Raiders needed a boost on defense after finishing 19th overall in total yards but at the bottom of the league in efficiency rankings like DVOA. Mike Mayock went to work, working heavily to add players to the defensive side of the ball.
The Raiders kept free agents relatively young this offseason, and it is apparent on the defenders who were signed to contracts. Every defensive player signed at this moment averages the age of 26.3, adding a new wave of young talent. Mayock’s philosophy of making the Raiders younger and fresher to compete in the AFC is coming into fruition.
Even though nobody has played a down, let’s go ahead add grades to the players for good discussion.
LB Cory Littleton, 3 years / $35,250,000
Grade: A+
The sigh of relief from Raiders fans when they finally saw an excellent linebacker sign in free agency. Enter Cory Littleton, who has come to fill the void that has been missing for years in Oakland, a coverage linebacker.
Littleton in match coverage. Kittle becomes final 3 so Littleton runs underneath him and makes a nice out-of-phase play.
Sees Kittle gets his hands up and he gets his arm in between to knock the pass away. pic.twitter.com/Od1lB11fzd
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) March 22, 2020
Littleton is one of the best linebackers in pass defense in the league. PFF has graded him at an elite level at a 90.6 the past two seasons with him only trailing Lavonte David of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Littleton will be the new leader in the middle helping shut down tight ends and even can hang with quicker running backs.
This is one of the best signings in years, and the value was even better. Most people projected around $13 to $14 million, and the Raiders landed him 11 million base pay. Fantastic signing for the Raiders.
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