Patrick Graham's Return Good for Young Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders hired Pete Carroll as their head coach in January, bringing back Patrick Graham as the defensive coordinator shortly after.

Graham was a highly coveted head coach and defensive coordinator candidate, taking interviews with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cincinnati Bengals. The Raiders should consider themselves fortunate that Graham returned.

While the Raiders are putting together a new-look defense featuring players like Elandon Roberts and Jeremy Chinn, the team should be better for bringing Graham back. He will provide continuity to a unit for which he is directly responsible for its success.

More importantly, his return will be crucial to young defenders looking to develop themselves as NFL players.

The Raiders have high hopes for second-year cornerback Decamerion Richardson. He showed flashes as a rookie and should be in line for a bigger role in 2025.

If Carroll decided Graham’s scheme wasn’t his favorite and brought in a new defensive coordinator, Richardson would have had to learn an entirely new scheme, which could have resulted in a drop-off in play on the field.

But instead, Carroll decided that Graham was the right man for the job, allowing Richardson – and many other young Raiders’ defenders – the chance to remain in the same scheme they learned in 2024.

Despite significant injuries on the defensive side of the ball last season, Graham had the Raiders competing in a lost season. His scheme has worked well during his time in Las Vegas, and he is getting important players back healthy.

It would have been tough for many players to have to learn a new scheme, as there would be crucial growing pains from young players the team is trusting to take on larger roles, like safety Isaiah Pola-Mao.

The Raiders expect a lot out of Pola-Mao as he steps into a starting role in his fourth season in the league. If he had not had another year in Graham’s system, it may have resulted in a catastrophic output.

Las Vegas will also likely add defenders in the 2025 NFL Draft, so having a coach like Graham should help there.

The Raiders want to get back to winning ways, and they may not have done so if they had hired a different defensive coordinator who would have brought in a new system.

Bringing Graham back allows players to grow for another year in a system they already know.

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