This past weekend, with two weeks until the start of the 2020 season, the Raiders made a move to bulk up the linebacker position. They sent a 4th round pick to the Dolphins to acquire Raekwon McMillan and a 5th round pick.
The former second-round pick comes to the Raiders, joining new starters Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski, who the team signed as free agents last March.
I asked Jon Gruden over video conference call what it was about McMillan that they liked which had the team making the move to bring him in.
“We liked him coming out of the draft. We liked him coming out of Ohio State, so did a lot of people, he was a high pick,” Gruden said of McMillan. “He’s got a lot of production when he plays. He’s a good tackler, he’s a physical inside linebacker. He’s a good tackler.
Interesting Gruden said McMillan was a good tackler, not once, but twice. That lines up with the McMillan’s tape from the past two years in Miami.
For the Raiders’ part, they had their two starters, which they will be playing with a good portion of the time, but oftentimes a third linebacker is needed and the next linebacker up is Nicholas Morrow who is more adept at dropping back into coverage than he is at coming up and making a tackle in the run game. Hence, the addition of McMillan.
Gruden said of McMillan’s role as “Potentially as a starter as a backup MIKE and as a starting multiple position type linebacker. We think he can play MIKE, we think he can play SAM, we think he can help us on special teams.”
Those were the roles that Tahir Whitehead played for the Raiders the past couple of seasons. But Whitehead struggled in coverage which didn’t match his contract, so he was let go this offseason and there hadn’t been anyone signed or drafted up to this point who could play those roles at a reasonably high level.
It would seem, now, McMillan’s addition completes the picture giving the Raiders what they hope is a combo of linebackers for any situation.
“We love Kwiatkoski, what he brings to our team. His ability to find the ball and get us lined up in and out of our defense, it’s a real ingredient we need,” Gruden added, speaking on the linebacker corps as a whole. “Littleton, as you know, as an underneath coverage linebacker is exceptional. And we’re going to need that against [Christian] McCaffrey and [Alvin] Kamara and some of the beasts that we’re going to see in our division. So, it’s good. Nick Morrow’s improved and we think the addition of McMillan will give us some depth and versatility that is something we have obviously been needing.”
