Tag: Divine Deablo

Ranking Raiders 2025 free agents by re-sign priority

Before the offseason becomes about who the Raiders can add to the roster, it must be about who they keep. With a new coaching staff coming in, they won’t feel all that tied to the players on the roster right now. But they have to know which players …

Before the offseason becomes about who the Raiders can add to the roster, it must be about who they keep. With a new coaching staff coming in, they won’t feel all that tied to the players on the roster right now. But they have to know which players make or break this team as it’s currently comprised.

In that spirit, I ranked the Raiders free agents by how valuable they are to re-sign.

Priority: Very High

Hobbs is an outstanding slot corner. Both in coverage and as a tackler. Such players don’t grow on trees. You hold onto players like him when you get the chance.

Priority: Very High

Spillane is a tackling machine and one of the better middle linebackers out there. He also loves his Raiders teammates and would probably welcome a return. They should step up and hang onto him.

Priority: Somewhat High

They were lucky to get him back last year after he tested the market. They shouldn’t mess around this time. He proved he is an every-down caliber interior defender and earned a multi-year deal and they’d be smart to give it to him.

Priority: Somewhat High

Many teams may have forgotten the holy terror he was over the stretch run of the 2023 season because he was lost to injury prior to this past season. That should be enough for Koonce to want to take a one-year deal to have a shot at hitting the market on a high note next year.

Priority: Somewhat High

The former top college safety and second round pick is coming off his best season. He has been a full time starter all four seasons and is the top safety on the Raiders roster. With all three of their safeties headed for free agency, they should probably try and keep the best of them or risk having to rebuild the group this offseason.

Priority: Moderate

The former first round pick had a breakout season for the Raiders. Even though I named him their Comeback Player of the Year. His five sacks equaled his career total coming in. The Raiders got a find with him and it would be a shame to just let that find get away.

Priority: Moderate

The former college safety has become a decent starting outside for the Raiders. Could be a bit risky to let him go because there’s no guarantee you’ll find better and/or cheaper replacement.

Priority: Moderate

Epps was half of a pretty solid safety tandem along with Moehrig last season. He was lost in week three and the coaching staff liked Isaiah Pola-Mao enough I could see them letting Epps walk. Will the new staff feel similarly?

Priority: Low

The ten-year veteran showed his value as a triple threat — running back, receiver, return specialist — late in the season. He would likely be cheap to re-sign and is clearly still got it.

Priority: Low

An outstanding special teams player. You get a mixed bag on defense from Pola-Mao. He’s a restricted free agent, which means it will be easy to retain him with a tender.

Priority: Low

A 17-game starter and had his moments. But overall, it may be time for the Raiders to move on from the 36-year-old to their young core of defensive tackles.

CB Darnay Holmes (1 start)
RB Alexander Mattison
WR Terrace Marshall
TE Harrison Bryant
T Andrus Peat
G Cody Whitehair

Raiders PFF grades: 5 highest rated Week 16 vs. Jaguars

The Raiders finally won a game after 10 straight defeats. Which players looked best on film according to Pro Football Focus?

Winning football games is fun, but the cherry on top is watching the tape and reliving your team’s best moments on the way to victory.

After 10 straight weeks of reviewing a loss, the Raiders can enjoy a winning effort after defeating the Jaguars on Sunday. Their top performer according to Pro Football Focus was tight end Brock Bowers. He earned a solid 81.5 score as he amassed 11 receptions and 99 receiving yards; Bowers surpassed 100 receptions and 1,000 receiving yards on the season.

Two other members of the Raiders offense join Bowers on PFF’s grading list. Offensive tackles Kolton Miller and DJ Glaze each made the cut. Miller is a veteran in his prime and Glaze is a rookie, and that’s a great sign for general manager Tom Telesco. The Raiders roster has issues, but at least his offensive tackle situation seems handled. Not every team can say as much.

The Raider’s starting linebackers continue to shine, as Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo also graded highly. Telesco will have to decide whether to sign these players to long-term contracts this offseason. They’ve provided solid defense in the middle of the field, which has long been an area of concern for the Raiders.

But those are decisions for another day. For now, these players can finally enjoy a winning effort after months of reliving one agonizing defeat after another as they study the tape.

Raiders PFF grades: 5 highest rated Week 15 vs. Falcons

The Raiders almost earned a miracle win on Monday Night Football against the Falcons but came up short. Which players graded the highest?

The Raiders’ losing streak hit double digits after they fell to the Falcons on Monday night, and Las Vegas’ last NFL win is a distant memory.

Despite looking awful for most of the game, the Raiders had a chance at victory on the game’s last play. But quarterback Desmond Ridder, starting in place of an injured Aidan O’Connell, missed the mark on a desperate hail mary pass as time expired.

Still, some players will be happier than others when they watch the game film with teammates and coaches. Linebacker Robert Spillane earned the highest grade on the team this week from Pro Football Focus, earning a solid 86.9 score.

Two other defenders join Spillane as high-scorers this week. Safety Tre’von Moehrig continued his strong season with another standout performance. Combined with Spillane’s fellow linebacker Divine Deablo, these three give Las Vegas hope for a strong middle section of the defense in 2025.

Two offensive linemen complete the list. Offensive tackle Kolton Miller earned the No. 2 spot with an 82.6 score. Guard Jordan Meredith took the No. 5 position with a 72.2 grade. Miller is a veteran while Meredith is a young player and took over as starter midseason. They figure to play a large role next season and performed well according to PFF, but each player committed multiple penalties against the Falcons, including a false start on Miller on the game’s first snap.

Everyone on the roster has to be better, however. Coaches have to perform better as well. If they can, perhaps they’ll earn a win over the season’s final weeks, potentially saving coach Antonio Pierce’s job in the process.

Raiders once promising 2024 defense obliterated by injury

There were high hopes for the Raiders defense this season. Then injuries hit and they just got worse and worse.

No defense came out of the 2023 season hotter than the one the Raiders were fielding. Over the stretch run under interim head coach Antonio Pierce, they were the best defense in football.

Then come 2024 it all fell apart.

The issues started before the season began and injuries were part of the problem.

A prominent role in the resurgent defense was Malcolm Koonce who had eight sacks in the final nine games coming off the left edge. And just prior to the start of the season, he suffered a season-ending knee injury that would require surgery.

His spot has been filled by a committee of four different edge rushers this season who have as many sacks combined (eight) in 13 games as Koonce had alone in the previous nine games.

Soon the Raiders would be without both their starting edge rushers. In week a week two win in Baltimore, All Pro Maxx Crosby would suffer a high ankle sprain that hobbled him in an ugly loss to the Panthers and then cost him the first game of his career. He would return the following week, but it was clear he was fighting through the pain each week since then. More on that later.

Another major piece to the Raiders strong defense last season was new safety Marcus Epps. Three games into what was to be a contract year for him in 2024, Epps was lost to an ACL injury. He has been replaced by Isaiah Pola-Mao and there has been a noticeable drop off in safety play as a result.

The biggest splash free agent addition in the NFL was the Raiders landing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. He was supposed to complete the Raiders defensive line and make a formidable one-two punch with Maxx Crosby. Five games into the season, he went down with a broken foot and was lost for the season.

Adam Butler has done well stepping into a more prominent role, though it’s hard not to imagine how much better the line would be had he been able to team up with Wilkins. In just five games, the Pro Bowler had 11 solo tackles, which is *still* second most on the team among interior defensive linemen despite being without him for two months.

At the same time, starting linebacker Divine Deablo was in the midst of a three-game stint on the inactive list. Then backup Luke Masterson got injured too, leading to the team starting fifth round rookie Tommy Eichenberg.

Midway through the season, the cornerbacks went from healthy to nearly wiped out in an instant. Week nine in Cincinnati, just prior to the bye week, the team simultaneously lost starting cornerbacks Jakorian Bennett and Nate Hobbs.  Bennett is lost for the season with a shoulder injury and Hobbs’s ankle injury has had him out for the equivalent of a trip to injured reserve and is finally set to return this week.

There. was even a couple games there where the Raiders had no starting safeties on the field. Jack Jones got banged up as well and the Raiders had all reserves on the field, with no cornerbacks left on the roster should one of them go down with injury.

Which brings us to the most devastating injury news this team could have — Maxx Crosby is done for the season.

Crosby had done well to put his ankle injury behind him. Then last Sunday in Tampa, he got rolled up on again and re-injured it. This time there was no fighting through it. For the sake of his own long term health — and with the team long since eliminated from playoff contention — he shut it down and opted to have surgery.

That means more than half of the team’s starting defense has either been placed on injured reserve, or — in the case of Hobbs — spent the equivalent of a trip to IR sidelined this season.

Based on the way the Raiders have played overall this season, the defense probably wouldn’t have been able to save them. Particularly with regard to the play at quarterback. But it could offer some hope that should the bulk of those players return next season — presumably with a better QB — this team could bounce back quickly.

Watch: Raiders fake punt has AJ Cole connect with Divine Deablo for big yards

What looked like a stop turned into a score after a 34-yard connection on a fake punt pass from AJ Cole to Divine Deablo.

Trickeration! In fourth and four from their own 36-yard-line, Antonio Pierce trotted out AJ Cole for the punt. Or did he. Cole took the snap and instead of punting it, he passed it to a wide open Divine Deablo for a 34-yard gain to the Denver 36-yard-line.

Here it is in all its glory.

The Raiders were ahead 7-6 over the Broncos and are pulling out all the stops to try and get back into the win column. And what better time to do that than in Las Vegas against a bitter rival.

Unfortunately the Raiders were unable to get a touchdown out of it, but they added a field goal to take a 10-6 lead with 3:48 left in the second quarter.

Special teams set up both the Raiders’ scores on the day. The first one after a Dylan Laube kick return to the Denver 40-yard line that they Raiders finished off for a touchdown.

Busters for Raiders Week 9 loss to Bengals

Those who had the roughest outing in the Raiders big loss in Cincinnati.

Over a ten minute stretch from the end of the second quarter to midway through the third quarter, the Bengals left the Raiders in the dust. What was a 10-10 tie because a 31-10 Bengals lead and they pretty much never looked back. Next thing you knew it, it was a 41-17 game and coaches’ heads were rolling before the night was up.

Busters

LB Divine Deablo

Tight ends have been gouging the Raiders of late. Opponents are realizing that’s one of their weaknesses and they’re exploiting it. Mike Gesicki alone had five catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns.

Often times it was Deablo who they went after for those catches. But that wasn’t the only area Deablo struggled in this one.

The Bengals’ first drive went for a touchdown. At one point, on three consecutive plays, Deablo gave up either the catch or run for 27 yards to put them at the Vegas 33. The second TD drive came in the final three minutes of the first half and it was Deablo who gave up the TD catch from ten yards out.

First drive of the third quarter saw the Bengals drive for another TD. Deablo missed a tackle on a 21-yard run early in the drive, then in first and goal at the seven, he was out of position on a five yard run, and two plays later gave up another touchdown catch.

LB Robert Spillane

Kudos to him for playing through his injury, but he doesn’t look right out there. Just like last week, he’s still making some tackles. They’re just several yards down the field. And he’s having more troubling fighting through blocks and cutting quickly.

The Bengals’ second scoring drive, he gave up the two biggest plays on the drive — an 18-yard catch and a 12-yard catch and run where he missed the tackle. Then the first play of the third quarter, he had Joe Burrow dead to rights on the blitz and missed the tackle to give up an 11-yard scramble instead.

He finished with seven combine tackles, which was his second lowest total of the season and had just one solo tackle.

WR DJ Turner

Even with the Bengals scoring to end the first half and to begin the third quarter, it was still a two-score game. Then Turner lined up in the backfield to take the handoff and fumbled it. The Bengals recovered it at the Vegas 21 and drive for another touchdown. Dagger.

T Thayer Munford

What Troy Hendrickson did to him in this game was sickening. Henderickson finished the game with a single game career -high four sacks. And three of those came from the left side while Munford was in the game.

It may be considered cruel to call Munford out considering he was pressed into left tackle duties after Kolton Miller and Andrus Peat both went down with injuries. But, I am not here to give consideration to such things. He got embarrassed in this one. Enough so that you realize why he is the third string left tackle and not the primary backup. We’re talking about the season opening starting right tackle here too.

HC Antonio Pierce, OC Luke Getsy, DC Patrick Graham

No coach is safe from criticism here. And not just because it was a bad game and we’re spreading around blame liberally. But because they each had their very specific issues.

The offense once again dried up after the opening drive. Just a few days after Getsy took exception to the term “scripted drive”. And probably about the time the Raiders plane landed in Vegas, he was no long employed by them.

Even still, the Raiders were down just one score in the final seconds of the first half and driving. But in third and four from the 48, after Getsy called a doomed screen, they are in prime position to go for it on fourth down. Just 17 seconds left and about five yards away from Daniel Carlson field goal range. Instead Pierce showed no aggressive and a complete lack of faith in his offense and his defense by sending out the punt team. There was nothing to gain from that decision and almost everything to lose.

If you are worried you won’t make it and the Bengals would drive into field goal range, then you think they can just easily to that anyway, so what’s even the point? Otherwise, you just go down fighting. You don’t give up. Before halftime, the Raiders gave up.

As for Graham and this defense…the Bengals scored on every one of their first five possessions; four of which were touchdowns. And far too many times, there were wide open receivers. Whether it be backs squirting out of the backfield with no one around, tight ends finding huge soft spots in the zone, or running backs finding gaping holes for chunk plays. This defense is a shell of what it looked like when it found inspiration late last season.

See the Ballers

Ballers for Raiders Week 6 loss vs Steelers

Those who deserve the credit for playing well and the blame for the collapse.

You will rarely see a game where a team couldn’t get out of their own way quite the way the Raiders did on Sunday against the Steelers. There were some good performances in the game, but they were overshadowed by all the mistakes. And often times those mistakes literally wiped away those plays.

As always (or usually) we hand out the credit to those who played well before we get to those who tore it all down.

Ballers

LB Divine Deablo

Divine was feeling it in his first game back off injury, making plays all over the field. It was a tackle for loss on a catch in the flat that was the key play to end the Steelers’ first drive and force them to settle for a field goal. Then in the second quarter, he blew up a trick play and Justin Fields with it for a 13-yard loss that took them out of Vegas territory and ultimately ended the drive.

It was still a 7-6 Raiders lead late in the second quarter. A turnover gave the Steelers the ball on the Vegas 30-yard-line. But two plays later, Deablo picked off a pass over the middle to get the Raiders the ball back. At least for an instant he did. A roughing the passer penalty wiped it away and the Steelers kept the ball. They would ultimately get the touchdown, but on the two-point conversion, there was Diablo to knock it down to keep the score at 12-7 at the half.

Diablo would finish with six tackles, two for a loss, a sack, a QB hit, and a pass breakup (which he wasn’t credited for because it was on a two-point conversion).

DE Maxx Crosby

Early in the second quarter, the Steelers mounted their second scoring drive. But Crosby didn’t make it easy. On the second play, Justin Fields saw Crosby screaming around the right edge off the snap and instantly tucked it and ran for 14 yards. Two plays later, Crosby drew a holding penalty which got eight of those yards back. The Steelers still managed to get a couple catches and a run to make it to the 31. Maxx stopped them there with two pressures leading to incompletions and they settled for a field goal.

The next drive, Crosby would draw another holding penalty. Two plays later he would get another pressure to force an incompletion. Three plays later they punted it away.

Early in the fourth quarter, with the score still 22-7, Crosby filled his gap, leading to a tackle for loss, and blew up another run in the backfield for a loss. They couldn’t get it back and punted. He finished with a half sack, three QB hits, and two tackles for loss and affected the game even more than the stats showed.

TE Brock Bowers

The Raiders drove for a touchdown on their opening drive and the offense went through Bowers to do it. He laid a key block on a seven-yard run. Two plays later he caught an eight-yard pass. Next play he blocked on a nine-yard run. And finally, on second and goal from the two, Bowers cleared the path for the touchdown run.

To lead out the third quarter, Bowers made ten-yard catch followed by a nice catch for 18 yards on a ball thrown behind him while he was running right to left. Unfortunately that catch was wiped away by a holding penalty on Andre James.

Even without that catch, Bowers led the team with nine catches for 71 yards.

Honorable Mention

RB Alexander Mattison — Had 19 touches (5 receptions) for 65 yards and a touchdown. And had a second touchdown called back by a very suspect illegal man down field penalty.

Continue to the Busters…

Raiders PFF grades: 5 highest rated Week 6 vs. Steelers

The Raiders suffered a blowout defeat vs. the Steelers but some players graded well according to Pro Football Focus.

The Raiders suffered yet another blowout defeat this week, this time at home against the Steelers. Handing quarterback Aidan O’Connell the keys to the offense didn’t help, and conservative play calling, turnovers, and penalties sealed Las Vegas’ fate.

But some players still had good days. Unsurprisingly, the two top-graded players by Pro Football Focus this week play on defense, led by linebacker Divine Deablo’s 88.6 score. Defensive end Maxx Crosby is No. 2 on the list at 84.5.

The Raiders’ top performer on offense is also no surprise. Tight end Brock Bowers continues to impress with his supreme pass-catching and elite run-after-the-catch ability. Plus, he had some good moments blocking.

The Raiders had just 57 rushing yards and struggled on offense overall, but the offensive line held up fairly well after guard Dylan Parham left the game with an injury. Guard Jordan Meredith graded highly after replacing Parham and offensive tackle Kolton Miller landed in the top five for the second consecutive week.

The Steelers offense isn’t special, but the Raiders defense held up well after losing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins to injury. Deablo’s performance helped, and it was nice to see a top defender on the Raiders return with an injury rather than head to the injured reserve or be lost for the season.

It will take a lot more to salvage this Raiders season, however. Coach Antonio Pierce and his staff have injuries and a disgruntled star receiver to deal with, but there are no excuses. They’ll be in dire need of a win this Sunday against the Rams in Los Angeles.

Raiders, Steelers Week 6 injury report: LB Divine Deablo FULL go, in line to start

LB Divine Deablo FULL go, in line to start Week 6 vs Steelers

A mixed bag for the Raiders on their Wednesday injury report. First and foremost, they placed start defensive tackle Christian Wilkins on injured reserve, which is why you won’t see him here. But they also had linebacker Divine Deablo as a full participant for the first time since Week two.

Among those missing from practice Wednesday were WR Davante Adams (hamstrong), DE Maxx Crosby (ankle), TE Michael Mayer (personal), WR Jakobi Meyers (ankle), T Kolton Miller (knee/shoulder), G Jackson Powers-Johnson (knee), and RB Zamir White (groin).

Those missing due to injury for the Steelers included S Domontae Kazee (ankle), LB Nick Herbig (hamstring), LB Alex Highsmith (groin), and WR/KR Cordarrelle Patterson (ankle).

Raiders, Broncos final Week 5 injury report: Maxx Crosby Questionable

Maxx Crosby Questionable on Raiders injury report

Finally some good news on the Raiders injury report. After seeing their already lengthy list of injured players who missed practice get even longer on Thursday, Friday brought the return of some key players to practice along with the chance that they are able to play Sunday in Denver.

Most notable, of course, being Maxx Crosby who returned from his ankle injury Friday and is officially Questionable for the game.

Also returning to practice Friday after missing the first two practices of the week were LB Divine Deablo, G Dylan Parham, WR Tyreik McAllister, and LB Kana’i Mauga. All of whom are officially Questionable for the game.

Those officially out include WR Davante Adams (hamstrong), T Thayer Munford (knee/ankle), CB DeCamerion Richardson (hamstring), TE Michael Mayer (personal), S Trey Taylor (knee), RB Zamir White (groin), and LB Luke Masterson (knee).

Replacing Munford at RT will be rookie DJ Glaze. Replacing TE Michael Mayer will be Harrison Bryant. Replacing WR Davante Adams is Tre Tucker. Replacing LB Luke Masterson is Tommy Eichenberg.

Out for the Broncos is RB Tyler Badie (back).