DC talks about LB’s progress
Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Divine Deablo ended last season on injured reserve with a forearm injury and is heading into a pivotal point in his career as a third-year pro in 2023. During OTAs so far, Deablo has apparently caught the eye of defensive coordinator Patrick Graham as Graham provided an update on the linebacker:
“Big swole. [He] walks around looking big swole right now, arms looking big. He’s definitely been a motivation for me to get in the weight room and try to get my arms up to his level,” the defensive coordinator joked.
“But no, I mean, there was stuff he was working on last year; communication, leadership, the athletic ability is there. [He] learned how to be a linebacker in this league. The beauty of it is he has Antonio Pierce in his room as his coach, who’s one of the best to ever do it, in my opinion. And he knows how to do it, he knows how to do it at a championship level. I mean, he’s just soaking that up and then to have the other guys in the room,
“[Robert] Spill [Spillane] around them; Spill has been a part of good defenses. You see Luke Masterson in terms of his growth. So, they’re starting to gel together as a group, whether it’s Darien Butler, the new guys.
“I mean, it’s a good thing, having coached that position before, when they start to build a little brotherhood with each other, whether they’re eating dinner together, going bowling or something together, you start to see them grow, get more comfortable communicating, more comfortable being on the same page together.
“The best linebacker cores that I’ve been with, they knew before they said anything, what the other guys were going to do; and that’s where you could see them growing with that.”
In other Raiders’ links:
- Ranking AFC West wide receivers: No one comes close to Davante Adams.
- Adams says Patriots didn’t feature Jakobi Meyers enough: “I didn’t see him featured as much as maybe he should have been based on what I saw when [the Patriots] came here and we practiced against them [last summer], and so far what I’ve seen from him now,” Adams said this week, per the Las Vegas Sun.
- Zamir White drops weight: “White appears to have slimmed down this offseason, with an increase in speed and quickness from this time last season,” via Levi Edwards of Raiders.com.
- Christopher Smith could get PT: “Smith is the definition of what we all affectionately refer to as “a football player.” His teammates at Georgia called him “Soldier.” He’s a fearless tackler who plays faster than his 40 time because of his outstanding vision and anticipation skills. Smith was critical on Georgia’s national-title squads and will be ready to help the Raiders the day pads come on,” per Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic.