New Raiders DC challenging LB Cory Littleton ‘physical nature’

A lot went wrong with the Raiders’ defense last season. That isn’t exactly new; there has been a lot wrong with the Raiders defense for several years. The difference this time was the team had made a few big investments to try and change things.

The largest of those investments was that of linebacker Cory Littleton, who was widely considered the best all-around linebacker on the free-agent market and one of the best coverage linebackers in the league.

It’s a tough pill to swallow that somehow Littleton just forgot how to play football when he arrived in Las Vegas. More likely it was a matter of other factors that were in play. The lack of an offseason certainly didn’t help, but more so it was a coaching issue.

Other Raiders linebackers in recent times have complained of Paul Guenther’s playbook not just being extensive and complicated. So, his ousting late last season can’t just be seen as a convenient scapegoating situation.

The Raiders brought back all three of their starting linebackers this year, only drafting depth. It’s clear they are hoping new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley will be the difference at that position. The longtime NFL defensive mind has special plans for getting the most out of Littleton.

“I’ve been impressed with his speed. He’s a very skilled linebacker,” Bradley said of Littleton. “One of the things is his physical nature, that’s the things we’re looking at right now and challenging him on. He has it in him. What I think’s great about Cory is the match-ups he allows us to have. He’s really a skilled cover guy. . . I think the other thing we see with him is he’s really a good edge setter. I think he has the ability to maybe to be more of an outside linebacker for us too.”

In Bradley’s four years with the Chargers, the outside linebackers were pass rushers. They were attacking a good portion of the time as opposed to dropping back into coverage.

While Littleton had no sacks for the Raiders last season, Bradley likely sees potential in the 7.5 sacks the 27-year-old linebacker had over his previous two seasons with the Rams. Not to mention his 259 combined tackles. That’s what Bradley means when he says “He has it in him.”

We got a preview of what the Raiders linebackers are capable of doing when out from under Guenther in the final three games of last season after Guenther was let go.

Nick Kwiatkoski had his best tackling game of the season in week 15. Then Littleton had his two best tackling games of the season in the final two games while Nicholas Morrow finished things off with a sack and a team-leading 11 tackles in the finale.

Bradley came into the NFL as a linebackers coach. He knows how to get the most out of his linebackers and he’s used to getting it.

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