Edge defender is arguably the deepest position group on the Las Vegas Raiders roster, with Maxx Crosby returning, Malcolm Koonce re-signing, Kwity Paye signing in free agency, and Keyron Crawford getting selected in the third round of the 2026 NFL draft. That leaves slim odds for an undrafted free agent to earn a spot in training camp, but former NC State edge Cian Slone has an intriguing profile to make a strong push.
After transferring from Utah State, Slone put together an impressive campaign for
the Wolfpack last season. While he only had 1.5 sacks, he managed to rack up 40 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Additionally, he had an excellent showing at NC State’s pro day to earn a 9.30 Relative Athletic Score, highlighted by clocking a 4.66-second 40-yard dash.
So, let’s dive into the tape and see what Slone could bring to Las Vegas.
One way that the Raiders can take advantage of the UDFA’s athleticism is by putting him as the looper on line games.
Here, NC State is running a three-man game where the nose tackle and inside standup linebacker on the weakside (No. 33) slant wide while Slone loops inside. The latter has two primary responsibilities: to help disguise the stunt to catch the offensive line off-guard, and to find and exploit an open pass-rush lane to flush the quarterback out of the pocket.
Slone accomplishes the first goal by pushing vertically with his first two steps off the line of scrimmage. Then, his athletic ability is on display when he works inside. Not only does he not lose ground toward the quarterback while moving laterally, but he also manages to gain ground to take the most efficient path to the quarterback possible.
From there, a pass-rush lane opens in the other A-gap. Because the looper and the other two pass-rushers did their parts to disguise the line game, and the former took an efficient path, the center doesn’t have enough time to recognize the line game and pick up the looper. So Slone, along with the nose tackle, flushes the quarterback out of the pocket and forces the QB to play backyard football.
This time, the Wolfpack is running another three-man line game, but where the defensive tackle (No. 44, Raiders’ seventh-round pick Brandon Cleveland) is the looper and Slone gets to be a penetrator.
For the most part, this is pretty close to just being a normal pass-rush rep for the edge rusher. The biggest difference is that he has to work an inside pass-rush move since Cleveland is moving outside to contain the edge. So, similar to the last rep, Slone does a good job of disguising the game by pushing up the field with his first two steps to capture the left tackle’s attention.
Additionally, he gets the tackle to bite on a head fake to open up the pass-rush lane in the B-gap. Finally, he capitalizes by using his quickness and a rip move to beat the tackle across the tackle’s face and get pressure on the quarterback.
While this specific win comes off a stunt, using quickness and lateral movement skills to win inside against offensive tackles is something that Slone can add to his pass-rush arsenal in the NFL.
The NC State product’s ability to turn speed to power as a pass-rusher is still a work in progress, but he does show some promise to improve down the line.
Slone’s 1.56-second 10-yard split earned a 9.85 RAS and shows in his get-off or burst off the line of scrimmage. That helps him generate some power to get a good initial pop and put offensive tackles on their heels. And on this rep specifically, he’s quick to get his hands up to get extension and keep the offensive tackle’s hands off of his body while collapsing the pocket.
In my opinion, the biggest area of improvement when Slone turns speed to power is that he needs to work an edge after initial contact. He does a good job of getting tackles off balance, but he keeps trying to go through their chest instead of finding a way to escape and get a clean win. Also, at 241 pounds, adding some mass wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
One way Slone’s game evolved at NC State was that he was asked to drop into coverage more frequently. He only recorded 30 coverage snaps over two years at Utah State, but he had 74 coverage snaps with the Wolfpack in 2025, per PFF. On top of that, he made a handful of impressive plays to earn an 87.3 PFF coverage grade, due in part to recording six ‘defensive stops’ in that phase of the game.
This is another area where the UDFA’s athleticism can be a factor. In the clip above, NC State runs a simulated pressure by blitzing the nickelback on the wide side of the field and dropping the edge rusher on the other side into the curl-to-flat area of the Cover 3 call.
That takes Slone out of his comfort zone, and he does a good job staying deep in his area to potentially help a teammate defend an intermediate route. The latter ends up being irrelevant on this play specifically, since Virginia Tech runs a Yankee concept or a two-man route before the quarterback checks the ball down to the running back.
Now, the edge defender has a chance to make a play and shows off his closing speed by ralling to the checkdown and recording a TFL.
This time, Slone is executing a peel technique. That means he’s responsible for the running back, where he rushes the passer if the running back stays in pass protection, but will be in man coverage against the back if the back releases on a route. So, there’s a decision tree involved in the assignment, and executing it takes some mental processing skills or football IQ in addition to athleticism.
To make this coverage more difficult, Virginia has its running back run a wheel route down the field. That’s a mismatch in the offense’s favor because a defender who typically rushes the passer and isn’t as experienced in coverage has to carry a skill player on a deeper route. Additionally, the edge-rusher has to make a read and change directions before running with the back down the field.
However, Slone has tight coverage throughout the rep and takes advantage of a bad throw by coming down with an interception. Also, this was at the end of the game to seal a win for NC State.
While Slone graded out better as a run defender (72.6) than a pass-rusher (66.5) last season, per PFF, he doesn’t have many traits against the run that will transfer over to the NFL. That being said, he is a high-effort player who plays with his hair on fire and is willing to run through a brick wall if he has to. The clip above might be the best example of that.
Georgia Tech runs counter, where Houston Texans’ first-round pick Keylan Rutledge pulls to serve as the lead blocker and kick out Slone. However, the latter recognizes the play design to work flat down the line of scrimmage when the left tackle down blocks, and he takes the fight to Rutlege to blow up the block in the backfield to get a tackle for loss.
The undrafted rookie may be more of a pass-rusher to begin his career, but his physicality gives him a chance to develop into a well-rounded edge defender.
With the Raiders’ current edge group, it seems more likely that Slone will at least begin next season on the practice squad. Maybe he can earn a spot as the fifth player on the depth chart, but that spot may not exist, depending on how the coaching staff wants to build out the 53-man roster. Regardless, the undrafted free agent has a handful of traits to develop and work with as a long-term project.
