HENDERSON, Nev. — When Matthew Butler’s cell phone came to life in the fifth round of the NFL draft last month, the former Tennessee defensive lineman did not recognize the number on the screen.
“It just showed ‘Las Vegas, Nevada,'” Butler said. “So, my heart stopped a little bit.”
Indeed, when it comes to the Las Vegas Raiders and defensive linemen, the 702 area code has been getting a lot of work this offseason. Because besides drafting Butler with the No. 175 overall pick, the Raiders also selected LSU’s Neil Farrell Jr. one round earlier. Las Vegas then signed a pair of undrafted rookie defensive linemen in Notre Dame’s Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Iowa’s Zach VanValkenburg, both of whom are listed as ends.
This after signing a gaggle of veteran defensive tackles in free agency — from Bilal Nichols to Kyle Peko to Vernon Butler to PJ Johnson to Tashawn Bower to Andrew Billings — while re-signing Johnathan Hankins and retaining Kendal Vickers.
Oh yeah, and the Raiders traded away defensive end rusher Yannick Ngakoue and signed edge rusher Chandler Jones to pair with Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby.
The Raiders’ new regime re-shuffled its D-line deck … and then some.
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“We didn’t have many [defensive linemen] on the roster to start with,” Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said. “There was a lot of opportunity at that position.”
To be fair, McDaniels was speaking specifically of the two interior defensive line positions. To be more general, with the Raiders valuing versatility in all of their players, they will show a variety of new fronts under new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
A 4-3 base, as has been the Raiders’ look for a decade-plus? Sure.
What about a 3-4, which more closely resembles Graham’s sensibilities? As McDaniels has said since he was hired in January, a base defense is…
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