Assessing Raiders level of need at LB heading into the Draft

With the draft weeks away, it’s time to check in on the Raiders’ linebacker position to give it a condition of either Strong, Stable, Unstable, Serious, or Critical.

Starters: Robert Spillane, Divine Deablo

Depth: Amari Burney, Luke Masterson, Kana’i Mauga, Darien Butler

Spillane came over last offseason from the Steelers and quickly became a team favorite. He is a hard worker with a humble, blue collar attitude. Dude was wearing a Costco fleece in the locker room after he had one of his biggest games last season. His tackles often came in bulk too, putting up double digit tackles six times and averaging nearly nine tackles per game on the season, finishing with 148 tackles in the season.

Deablo had a breakout year in his first as a full time starter. In 15 games, he put up 106 tackles. The former college safety held his own in coverage as well. He proved himself worthy to be a starter.

Condition: Stable

Notes: While the starters are sound, the depth could be an issue. Of the backup linebackers, only former sixth rounder Amari Burney was drafted. Masterson has shown himself capable of fill-in duties, while the other three are special teams guys. That being said, they can get by with this group, so it’s certainly not a position they need to consider drafting until day three.