The Las Vegas Raiders didn’t invest heavily in the defensive tackle position in free agency or the draft. One reason is the belief in the two draft picks from last season, Tonka Hemingway and JJ Pegues.
Pegues got a sack during Sunday’s practice, but Hemingway has been performing well since day one. He is looking to hold down the defensive tackle spot opposite Adam Butler and continue his rise, finishing last season with four sacks in the last five games.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated was at Raiders
training camp on Sunday, and the play of Hemingway was highlighted in his article.
To that end, 2025 fourth-round pick Tonka Hemingway is emerging as a player to watch, with high-end natural athleticism that his college coaches and teammates at South Carolina told NFL folks about a couple years ago. He looks like he’s developing into a potential force as a 3-technique.
Hemingway becoming a star will be another notch on the belt of John Spytek finding young players for this defense. Of course it is early, and Hemingway has to perform when the season starts, but his creating buzz already shows it could be the year he makes the leap.
In other Raiders links:
- TDL training camp live: The Tape Don’t Lie crew answered fans’ questions and discussed the first four days of training camp.
- Mendoza has growing pains on day four of camp: Las Vegas Review-Journal writes about Mendoza’s up-and-down day on Sunday.
- Raiders training camp photo from day four: Check out the photos from training camp for day four.
