The Las Vegas Raiders are shifting to a 3-4 base defense, though I doubt they will be sitting out of base defense for most of the season, and if that if they will even be in the 3-4 system all that often. Matt Holder recently published an article breaking down the plan for Rob Leonard and I highly suggest taking a look at such. Leonard has preached fundamentals on defense, but he’s also preached a few other key tones aggression, attack, pursuit, and communication.
While every defense has preached such, the biggest is execution on defense. Leonard should be aggressive defensively in terms of his stunts, twists, & blitz packages but the Raiders will also need to maintain their communication in an aggressive defense to not lose assignment, receivers, or cause big plays. Additionally, constant consistent pressure, and rallying to the ball is crucial, as is the Raiders pouncing on opportunities when they are present. An aggressive unit can be among the most successful in the NFL (Brian Flores, Bill Belichek, Steve Spagnuolo, and Mike MacDonald) but it can also have it’s concerns with Aaron Glenn, Matt Patricia, Rex Ryan, and even Spagnuolo before his Chiefs days.
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Defensive Line:
Key Names: Maxx Crosby, Malcolm Koonce, Kwity Paye, Keyon Crawford (situational pin ears back pass rusher), Adam Butler, Jonah Laulu, Thomas Booker (best IDL pass rusher), Tonka Hemingway, and others
Athletes, that’s the biggest key for the Raiders. In March, I broke down what the Raiders defensive line can look like from a technique standpoint, and how each player fits into that mold. That article really does explain what to expect from an individual player standout if that’s of interest to you. Leonard stated ” I would like to play fast, even at the cost of a mental error”. It’s a bold standpoint to have, leaning into the aggression causing more havoc than they give up. He’s not build on hesitation, and he certainly wants the Raiders to attack. As a result of that, I’d highly suspect the Raiders defensive line to play in an “attack front”. An attack front is pretty consistent with man control on the defensive line. Attack and react fronts are the common types of defensive line structures, where an attack front allows the defensive line to fire off the ball and get to the backfield quickly.
The goal is to overwhelm the offensive line and pass protection unit immediately, while forcing players on the defensive line to win against their man (man control). Instead of anchoring, sitting back, and reacting to the offensive structure the goal is to maintain leverage, get upfield, and collapse the pocket or rushing lane. This system does place heavy strain on the linebackers, and also the interior defensive line where a missed assignment, or lack of control against a man can lead to a bigger rush than a react front. In theory, attack fronts are the ideal world, however they also can lead to big plays if players in the secondary and at the second level are not engaged and sitting on their drops to react quickly. The secondary needs to be able to get upfield, tackle the ball carrier, and players who struggle to tackle will be an issue (I’ll touch on that later). This front usually will result in a 0, 2, 4, 6, and 7 technique.
In 2023, the Raiders ran stunts on 34% of their defensive line snaps and saw a pressure rate of 42% which is around the median average. In 2024, that rate rose to 35%, and their pressure rate also fell to 35% though the team also dealt with injuries. In 2025, the rate fell to 27%, and their pressure rate to just 31%, the rate in 2025 is standard with that of a gap control/react front which was heavy for Pete Carroll. Rob Leonard started parts of his coaching career under Brian Flores (average 42% stunt rate), and Mike MacDonald (34% rate in 2025) and I’d expect his rates to sit somewhere in the 34 – 40% range. Leonard is going to be aggressive, but I doubt he’s going to be as aggressive as Flores early on, largely due to the Raiders lack of defensive tackle talent. It’s also worth noting that new DL coach Travis Smith ran an average of 37% of stunts during his time as the Bears DL coach.
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Overall, expect to see a ton of movement on the Raiders defensive line, additionally in obvious run downs, the Raiders will also very likely see a true 0-Technique to play off their nose position. In terms of their stunt rates on 3-4 with a true 0, that will depend who takes the role. Benito Jones is a limited athlete laterally, JJ Pegues is decent, and Brandon Cleveland is the best. In traditional true 0-tech roles, it’s hard to have a ton of stunts off lateral movement, but Las Vegas may explore some to isolate as a possible pass rush formation instead of solely living out of 0 when it’s a run down allowing teams to attack them to the outside. In terms of the full run game the Raiders will be aggressive, the goal is to rack up negative or nill plays (0 yards) and thus high TFL rates, the key will be limiting explosive runs, low YPC, and while teams will run staying efficient vs the run which Las Vegas was in 2025 ranking top 8 in explosive run rate, YPC, attempts, and TFL as a defense.
Linebackers
Key Names: Nakobe Dean, Quay Walker ……… Segun Olubi, Tommy Eichenberg, Cody Lindenberg, others
The Raiders are going to blitz, and that was only improved with Nakobe Dean & Quay Walker. Walker will work as a traditional weakside (no TE in formation) or strongside (TE in formation) unlike his time in Green Bay where he was a true MIKE. That switch should see his improvement in his run game, coverage, and will isolate him more as a blitzer. Nakobe Dean has been an elite blitzing linebacker throughout his career, and should he stay healthy I can imagine a world where Dean has 30+ pressures and 6+ sacks as a linebacker. Las Vegas will not have more than two linebackers on the field that often, most teams only run 2 linebackers at the moment, with the base defense heavily being out of nickel not 3-4, 4-3, 3-5 as it has been in the past.
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Similar to that of the defensive line, the Raiders are going to be in an attack front, and as a result that puts pressure on the linebackers. The defensively will need to anchor their assignments, maintain man control, and fire upfield. As a result cutback lanes, large gaps, and potential big rushes. As a result, the Raiders linebackers mainly Walker, Dean, and Segun Olubi/Tommy Eichenberg when on the field will need to fire to the ball, contain their gaps, and as a result they can’t afford missed tackles something that Walker has been inconsistent with, and Dean prevents missed tackles. The Raiders linebackers will have a good bit of pressure upon them in the run game, and they’ll need to be fluid, aggressive, but also work in communication to prevent lost gaps and/or receivers in coverage. Luckily, Dean and Walker did spend 4 years together at Georgia, and their communication is likely top of the line.
In terms of coverage, the Raiders will very likely be sitting in zone coverage most of the time likely north of 60-70% of their total snaps. The Raiders linebackers will usually be asked to play a hard flat, middle overhang, or flex coverages where they’ll be crucial on getting depth in their drops, passing defenders, and then driving on the ball or opening route concepts. As a result, the Raiders may see a large amount of ball production from their linebackers, but they could also see some big plays due to how aggressive and proactive the Raiders defense will be. The goal for the linebackers is to prevent big plays, and be proactive in taking the ball away/making plays in the backfield comparative to reacting. I’d expect with full seasons, both Dean & Walker can have north of 100 tackles, 8 or more TFL, and at least a combined 6-7 turnovers due to the system, their communication, and fit.
Nickel
Key Names: Taron Johnson (nickel cornerback), Jeremy Chinn/Treydan Stukes (nickel defender)
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I won’t touch on this much, there’s going to be likely two “nickels” on the field this season. Learning from Mike MacDonald and Brian Flores, who have both been instrumental at conveying the NFL’s adaptation to two nickels. While Las Vegas will very likely have 4 defensive lineman & two linebackers which leaves 5 defensive backs, it’s hard to have a nickel defender, slot corner, and then just three spots for a safeties and boundary cornerbacks. Last year, the Seahawks ran two nickel defenders on 58% of their snaps, and 39% the year before that while Brian Flores has been at roughly 39-45% over his time in the NFL.
The two nickel defenders break down into two fundamental aspects, the slot cornerback and the nickel overhang defender. When the Raiders want to “stack the box”, limit a short quick pass, and/or show versatility in their secondary where they will rotate. The traditional slot cornerback, is likely to be Taron Johnson though Leonard has also stated that they will rotate Treydan Stukes, Dalton Johnson, and Jeremy Chinn as well. In addition, I’d expect the Raiders to adapt a similar system to that of MacDonald last year where the Raiders will rotate their nickel back into a FS or overhang SS role, and rotate those players between the spots, and/or into the slot. I’ll touch on the secondary rotations more in the next concept, but this is a core concept to help confuse quarterbacks, provide more aggressive attacks on the ball, and really limit how well a secondary can create a wide open concept to attack a certain coverage.
The other nickel, is your overhang flat defender, and this is something usually named as a “box safety”. The Raiders have a core box safety, or nickel backer in Jeremy Chinn. Traditionally, the nickel backer is a bigger safety, with struggles downfield in coverage, but also one who is able to read and react to the run well. While Treydan Stukes played more of a nickel cornerback in college, he can play this role, but is more built for the slot corner/free safety role. This role plays a lot like Nick Emmanwori, a player who can work the run, acts like a linebacker in concepts vs the run, and also has an ability to turn and run in coverage in both man & zone coverages.
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Secondary
Key Names: Eric Stokes (best overall CB), Darien Porter, Jermod McCoy, Hezekiah Masses, Treydan Stukes, Jeremy Chinn, Dalton Johnson, Isaiah Pola-Mao, Taron Johnson, and others
Our last position group, and probably the most important one. For starters, the Raiders have probably their most talented secondary in a while. The Raiders are young at the cornerback position, but they are big, physical, long, and again aggressive. The corners should be able to play well in assignments to focus on the ball, but the biggest point of emphasis will be the run game. No matter how talented a corner in this scheme is, if they are a liability in the run game, it’s going to be difficult to consistently see the field. Darien Porter is likely the starter opposite Eric Stokes (who’s a very good run defender), but Porter has struggled against the run in his short NFL career, and at times at Iowa State largely due to his lack of experience on defense. Jermod McCoy is a good run defender, as is Hezekiah Masses and with both being good coverage defenders, they may push for real snaps this year.
Defending the run in the secondary is crucial, the unit needs to be able to clean up outside runs, attack the box, and also play the “last line of defense” mindset in the run game where big plays could pop up but with strong run defenders in the secondary they’ll be able to prevent large gains if the defensive line and linebackers either overpursue, abandon a gap, or are simply out schemed. When stacking with nickel defenders, the Raiders won’t have a full weakside, and Chinn will be the best tackler in the secondary, where I’d expect teams to try and run opposite of him (Chinn is usually aligned behind Crosby when on the right side as is). As a result, finding a way to get Chinn opposite of Crosby in a nickel backer role will be crucial to allow him the ability to jump on the ball, but also take away rushing lanes.
Alright, everyone’s favorite…. coverage schemes. Last year the Raiders ran 78% of their coverages out of zone, and 15% of man which was by far the lowest in the NFL. The Raiders have been high in zone under Patrick Graham with a 65% rate or higher under his tenure, but that spiked with Pete Carroll who implemented the core “Cover-3” concepts in the NFL. I’d expect heavy zone usage for the Raiders, it’s common in the NFL, and Leonard has developed under Graham, Mike MacDonald (75%+ zone rate in 3 years including 81% in 2025), and Brian Flores (78% zone rate) who have all ranked highly in zone coverage rates with MacDonald ranking 2nd in the NFL back to back seasons. As a result, the Raiders are going to live in zone, but specific coverages will depend.
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Not diving into the math, but the current projections I was able to put together combining averages of the last three years for Flores, MacDonald, and Graham I cam out to a PROJECTED split of the following:
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Man: 23%
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Cover 1: 14% (1 high safety)
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Cover 0: 7% (0 high safeties)
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Cover 2: 2% (split two high safety shells)
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Zone: 77%
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Cover 3: 35% (1 centerfield DB, 2 supplementary high safeties split 1/3, 1/3, 1/3)
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Cover 4: 21% (4 high DBs, split into equal 1/4 quarters, two safeties, 2 cornerbacks)
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Cover 2: 15% (2 high DBs similar to C2 man but CBs are matched up in flat assignments)
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Cover 6: 6% (C2 on one side, C4 on the other side, Mainly a prevent defense)
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The Raiders have the talent to run a diverse set of coverages in the secondary, and with the focus being on attacking the ball, they will be running coverage stunts. In coverage assignments, teams will come out in shells which are sometimes disguised looks of a coverage, for example you want to run cover 3 but you have a two high shell to try and project C2. After the snap, either one safety kicks out to the far third, one becomes your center field defender, and a cornerback takes the near or boundary third with the opposite corner playing a flat. Additionally, the safety could kick into centerfield, one drops into a flat assignment, and either your nickel cornerback and/or boundary corners kick into covering the opposite 1/3 assignments of the safety. (I hope you can visaulize what I am trying to show).
The Raiders secondary is going to be aggressive, and largely I believe they’ll be over the league average in cover three (but toned down from previous years), while also being above the average in cover four, cover 0, and cover 2 man. Patrick Graham notably led the NFL in 0 coverages for the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the Raiders were fairly productive on those coverages, including in 2023 when they logged a 32% forced incompletion or TFL rate out of cover 0 on 11% of their snaps. Rob Leonard wants to be aggressive, the Raiders secondary will rotate a bunch, in terms of players dropping from safety to a flat or nickel role and visa versa, but also their disguised shells, mentality against the ball, and the aggression to come up and attack the DB at the line of scrimmage. I’d imagine they are going to be bottom 5 in the NFL in terms of initial cushion, where Leonard will want his corners to be at the line of scrimmage, ready to attack the run, but also to instill an aggressive look before the route begins.
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