Raiders, Leonard Hard at Work Laying New Foundation

The Las Vegas Raiders' offseason has been filled with changes in the front office and to every position group on their roster. The Raiders have no shortage of new pieces to mesh together this offseason and beyond, but after the past few seasons, that is a problem they are happy to have.

Las Vegas' defense has been one of the team's many downfalls lately. The unit has struggled to add serviceable talent over the past few seasons. Those failed moves have hurt the unit just as much as any of their other downfalls. The Raiders hope their offseason changes can alleviate the issues.

Watch Leonard Discuss Organized Team Activities and More Below

The Raiders' New Defense

The Raiders as a whole have failed to play complementary football. There is enough blame to go around for that being the case. Las Vegas' inability to keep its offense on the field only made its defensive deficiencies even worse. Regardless, the Raiders have fixed both sides of the ball.

Las Vegas has also upgraded its coaching staff across the board. The Raiders cleaned house shortly after their 3-14 dismal season came to an end. Las Vegas' coaching staff is improved just like their roster. The Raiders' coaching staff is nearly new, with only a few holdovers.

Las Vegas was wise to clean house, but they were also wise to keep the coaches and just about all of the players that they did. There is no case that is truer for the Raiders than the return and promotion of Rob Leonard as the team's defensive coordinator, which gave Las Vegas a semblance of normalcy.

Leonard's return to the team will be one of the more underrated moves the Raiders made this season. Las Vegas has changed everything from scheme to the roster, yet Leonard remains. Not only has he remained, but he has also survived the Raiders' firing of three coaching staffs in as many seasons.

Top Tier Return

Leonard has several previous stops in the National Football League as a position coach with multiple teams. He spent the last three seasons as the Raiders' defensive line coach, giving him more knowledge of Las Vegas' defense than anyone they could have hired from the outside.

By retaining Leonard, Las Vegas ensured it did not start completely anew, which is beneficial in many ways. In Leonard, the Raiders have a defensive coordinator with a demeanor and approach to the game similar to that of head coach Klint Kubiak.

Leonard gives the Raiders a coordinator who can connect with a unit that is gradually getting younger. He gives Las Vegas a younger coach who can communicate well with a new generation of players and who also has over a decade of experience in the National Football League.

As much as Las Vegas needed an offensive mind that could compete in today's league at head coach, they needed a similarly trustworthy option on the defensive side of the ball. Leonard gives them precisely that. The Raiders have no shortage of new aspects to their team.

Leonard's return gives the Raiders a familiar face and feel at a critical position on the coaching staff. It is hard to explain what Leonard's promotion will mean to the Raiders or how it will impact them moving forward. However, it is undeniable that it will have a positive impact.

There will be more than a few noteworthy aspects of the Raiders' 2026 season. Leonard's transition to the defensive coordinator position and his ability to get the most out of a significantly improved roster will be among the most notable aspects. Las Vegas needs Leonard to work his magic.

As an organization, Las Vegas has undergone more changes in one offseason than most teams normally do. Yet, after nearly 30 losses in the past two seasons, change was unquestionably necessary in Las Vegas.

Heading into his first season leading Las Vegas' defense, Leonard's promotion from positional coach to coordinator has already brought immense change for him in ways that he is likely still figuring out. He recently explained a few of those differences.

"Feeling like not having anywhere to go during individual has been different, and I feel like I should be bouncing around, but that's just my personality. But I love it. Like, I love going with the DBs, I go with the D-line during special teams, just making sure everybody's on the same page,” Leonard said following Organized Team Activities.

“I love hearing the coaches coach, and if you hear something different, you're like, 'Okay, well, we got the safeties and linebackers on the same page on this,' and just observing and jumping in when needed. A higher energy guy out there, as you can tell. I need to run routes, and I want the coaches coaching. So, I like to hear them. It makes me feel confident that we're on the same page when we're all talking the same."

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