This early into the new regime, you have to give the Las Vegas Raiders coaching staff this: They come up with some noteworthy and downright hilarious descriptions of their players.
First it was head coach and chief offensive play caller Klint Kubiak dubbing elite tight end Brock Bowers a “football robot from heaven”. It was a description that not only the third-year Georgia product enjoyed, but his fellow Raiders found hilarious, too.
Then came defensive coordinator Rob Leonard talking up linebacker
Quay Walker.
“I mean, I see Quay, he’s an Avatar out there,” Leonard began, “He’s a guy that looks like an outside linebacker that can play off the ball, play on the ball, he blitzes. Yeah, he’s a leader. Him and Nakobe (Dean) have been great, and you can definitely feel his presence.”
Interestingly enough, the Raiders’ football robot and Avatar are both former Georgia Bulldogs. But aligning to Las Vegas’ mantra this offseason of being on the same page, Bowers and Walker are expected to be prime examples of the position-less and hybrid philosophy being engrained in the Silver & Black this offseason. Kubiak’s penchant to run different plays out of identical alignments and formations — and mixing in motions and shifts — alongside Leonard’s desire to have his defense to attack by playing aggressive and fast from a multiple-front looks and deceptive blitz packages is what’s consistently talked about this offseason.
Walker provided more hints and insights on what that exactly means.
“Honestly, man, it’s a lot for offense going in that week ahead of it, so say for instance, it’s week one, and a team is just trying to get us together, whatever the case may be, and they present our defense. We have a lot of guys that played this, play that, they just move around in a lot of areas, so now it’s kind of hard to scout against us and tell what we are doing,” Walker explained when asked what’s the benefit of having defenders play multiple spots on the field. “Say for instance, I’m on the line, you never know if I’m going to drop or if I’m going to rush whether that’s to the field or the boundary. Same thing with (safety Jeremy) Chinn, (edge rusher Kwity (Paye), no matter what the case may be, Maxx (Crosby). Just a whole lot, it kind of helps and play hand in hand with the whole defense I’ll say.”
Now, if you have trepidation on the “multiple”, I don’t blame you.
My eyebrow raised as that was the same buzzword that Dennis Allen uttered constantly and consistently when he was hired as head coach of the Oakland variant of the Raiders back in 2012. He sought versatility and disguised coverages that showcased fluidity between 4-3 and 3-4 fronts and highlighted aggressiveness and attacking nature.
Sounds familiar, no?
That’s the same intent Leonard has this coming season. What helps the first-year defensive coordinator that Allen didn’t have as a rookie head coach at the time in 2012 is a well-constructed roster that saw significant salary cap space and assets this offseason used to rebuild the Raiders’ defense. Allen saw himself as the chosen lead man by then-general manager Reggie McKenzie during the chief personnel man’s tear down phase of reshaping the Silver & Black. And saying the cupboard was bare is an understatement.
Current GM John Spytek didn’t shop on a discount this offseason and spent coin on free agents Walker (three-year contract worth $40.5 million), fellow linebacker Nakobe Dean (three years, $36.03 million), edge rusher Kwity Paye (three years, $48 million), and re-signing cornerback Eric Stokes (three years, $30 million) and edge rusher Malcolm Koonce (one year, $11 million). Las Vegas also retained edge rusher Maxx Crosby after the failed trade to the Baltimore Ravens, giving Leonard much more talent (and let’s not mess around, name recognition) on his unit that Allen didn’t come close too.
Unlike Allen, Leonard is more willing to delve into specifics highlighting not only enthusiasm but the critical-thinking of someone who does intend to be multiple but teach it properly, too.
“Yeah, up front it’s always important to be deep and be able to rotate. It just is. It’s not a crazy, drastic — for the front guys, they’re like, ‘Hey, I’m an outside shade, an inside shade or head up. I’m a three, a two or a shade.’ I don’t think for how we teach D-line that it’s something drastically different,” Leonard said. “What’s my technique? Who am I striking? And then, in terms of 3-4, 4-3 that’s just in my mind the edge guys, who’s dropping, who’s rushing, which is a little bit different, but I don’t think the change is as drastic as it may sound if that makes sense.”
Walker, who stands at a prototypical 6-foot-4 and 241 pounds, brings the physical and mental traits to succeed as a versatile chess piece. The 26-year-old brings with him solid four-year production with the Green Bay Packers (was selected 22nd overall in the 2022 NFL Draft with the pick the Pack acquired from the Raiders in the Davante Adams trade) and the blend of size and athleticism allows him to be deployed as both an inside and outside linebacker who can blitz, stop the run, and drop back in coverage.
And he’s eager to do all of that and anything else Leonard asks for.
“I’m playing more positions that I probably ever played in my career, but this is a challenge that I’m willing to accept. This is what I’ve always wanted to do. I want to always want to be a guy who can move around and play multiple positions, Walker said. “And honestly, man, where we at right now, we’re growing each and every day, that’s all you can ask for. A lot of teams are preaching the same thing around this time. So, how are we going to separate ourselves in order for us to get to where we want to get and get what we can get out of the OTAs and this off season. So, we just got to stay locked in with it and just have the mindset, and as a leader, it’s my job. I feel as if I come in with the right mindset, making sure that guys can match my energy, whatever the case may be.”
Walker taking second-year linebacker Cody Lindenberg, the Raiders’ seventh-round pick in the 2025 draft and became a core special teamer (362 snaps/86 percent of the unit’s total) as a rookie last season, during OTAs and minicamp is tangible proof of the right mindset and making sure teammates match his energy.
While Walker and Dean are the favorites to be the starting inside linebackers in a 3-4 front, getting youngsters like Lindenberg up to speed is vital for depth, especially if the Leonard does intend his Raiders defense to be multiple.
