The Las Vegas Raiders have a new defensive coordinator, but Rob Leonard knows the personnel very well.
The Las Vegas Raiders are facing a complete roster rebuild, and that includes the defense. Their new defensive coordinator, Rob Leonard, knows this, since he was also their defensive line coach last year, so he also knows the issues he’s facing inside out.
Leonard gave an update on all this to Ryan McFadden of ESPN, as he updated comments he made at the start of OTAs and minicamp. He knows he’s dealing with a new level of responsibility, and he reacted appropriately to that.
"It's been a lot of fun. It's humbling," Leonard said.
The Raiders will be more versatile, based on what they showed in OTAs and minicamp. Their defense will also be more aggressive, which matches Leonard’s personality.
"It is great, because it's trying to keep an advantage," Leonard said. "I want a player-led defense and them to understand conceptually. ...That's how you're able to be multiple, that's how they're able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of a call, and that has really been our focus."
According to McFadden, Leonard didnt have a prior relationship with coach Klint Kubiak. But Raiders GM John Spytek and defensive backs coach/pass game coordinator Joe Woods talked him up, and Woods has worked with Kubiak before in Denver and New Orlean, the writer added.
Kubiak didn’t ask many questions, either. He interviewed with Kubiak and Spytek as he laid out his plan for the defense and the kinds of players he needed to make it come to fruition, and Kubiak bought what he was selling.
"I had some people that I wanted to talk to, but in my short time was Robbie, I was just extremely impressed with his knowledge, the backing that he had in the building [and] the relationships that he built," Kubiak said. "He had a plan. He knew what he wanted to do. ...And it just revealed itself to me that he was the right guy for the job."
The Raiders will be shifting back to a 3-4, and Leonard will be trying to fix a unit with some horrible numbers last year. Those include finishing 25th in points allowed (25.4) and 14th in yards allowed (317.8). Las Vegas also struggled to get off the field, as opponents converted 46.3% of their third-down attempts, as McFadden noted.
At the end of the day, though, the success of the Raiders defense will depend to a large extent on the roster and the ability of the players to win at their respective positions.
"It's a matchup league, you can't outscheme people all day, and that's really important," Leonard said. "... I don't think how we teach D-line [will be] drastically different. What's my technique? Who am I striking?
And then, in terms of 3-4 [versus] 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."
