Arguably the best decision the Raiders made this offseason was finally investing in their linebacker unit. For most of the decade, the linebacker position has been the team’s Achilles’ heel on defense as they often relied on older, slower players to fill that need.
After missing on veterans such as Tahir Whitehead and Vontaze Burfict over the last two seasons, the team finally decided to spend top-dollar in free agency at the position. During free agency, the Raiders signed the top linebacker on the market in Cory Littleton, formerly of the Los Angeles Rams.
Just how good is Littleton? In a recent article by Ben Linsey of Pro Football Focus, he named the top-25 linebacker entering the upcoming season. Littleton appeared on the list, finishing at No. 8 in the rankings. Take a look at what Linsey had to say about the Pro Bowl linebacker:
“Over the past two seasons, Littleton has a PFF coverage grade of 90.6 and has missed just nine of his 254 tackling opportunities. That’s why the Raiders signed him this offseason. Over that same two-year stretch, the 37.9 coverage grade for Raiders’ linebackers collectively came out ahead of only the Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants. Their 12% missed tackle rate as a unit also came in as a bottom-10 mark across all defenses. Littleton should help correct both those areas.”
PFF did mention Littleton’s struggles as a run defender at times, but that isn’t why the Raiders targeted him in free agency. Littleton is among the league’s best defenders in pass coverage and that has been a major weakness for the Raiders for several seasons.
If Littleton can play even close to the level that we’ve grown accustomed to over the last two seasons, the Raiders will have one of the league’s best linebackers on their roster. Look for Littleton to have a major impact on Paul Guenther’s defense right away.
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