Raiders sign LB K.J. Wright

[Mr Raider]

43 minutes ago, NightTrainLane said:

I put KJ in the thumper category because I saw someone mention that he came off the field in 3rd down situations abd he is older. But he still had a 78% coverage ranking on PFF and he played out of position last year (WLB instead of SLB). I'm so happy we got him.

On that top 100 video they had it the opposite. They said last season was his first season in his career playing on the strong side. He's played the majority of his career as a WLB I believe. 

Either way, he's the type of LB, particularly when considering our LB play the last decade, in this era of smaller, faster LBs, big safeties playing LB, etc where you put Wright on the field and he's going to get the job done. 

I imagine he will continue to play on the strong side in the base for us this season as Littelton just doesn't fit there at all. Honestly I don't worry about where his designated spot is, he's a tremendous LB overall, and his talent and familiarity with the system will work wonders for us. 

[NightTrainLane]

15 minutes ago, Mr Raider said:

On that top 100 video they had it the opposite. They said last season was his first season in his career playing on the strong side. He's played the majority of his career as a WLB I believe. 

Either way, he's the type of LB, particularly when considering our LB play the last decade, in this era of smaller, faster LBs, big safeties playing LB, etc where you put Wright on the field and he's going to get the job done. 

I imagine he will continue to play on the strong side in the base for us this season as Littelton just doesn't fit there at all. Honestly I don't worry about where his designated spot is, he's a tremendous LB overall, and his talent and familiarity with the system will work wonders for us. 

Yup, just messed up when typing that out.

And depending on what he weights now (listed at 6'4 245), he is the biggest LB we have on the team. He set the edge well last year and was a plus in coverage still while out of his normal position. Any way you slice it he should REALLY help us!

[NightTrainLane]

29 minutes ago, Mr Raider said:

Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of that. 

I was aware that the backup QB could take over when replacing the starting QB. 

I assumed as much for the dot wearer on defense, but I still assumed it was only one spot overall.

Appreciate it. 

Edit - Wait, if it's still only one on the field at any given time, the question still kind of stands. How does the system work out if Perryman or KWit were going to be the dot wearer, but they come off the field on 3rd downs? It's not like we are going to have Littelton or Wright run off to the sideline and change their helmet. Or is it possible to have the dot on a helmet and just keep the radio to the coordinator off until the other comes off the field?

May sound silly, but I legitimately don't know. I was just under the impression that it was one per offense and defense and if that player went down someone else (backup QB on offense) was allowed to take over. So I don't totally understand how that would translate to defense if you are wanting one guy to call the defense in the base and another to call it in the nickel without an injury occurring. 

Good question for a beat reporter to ask a player because I don't know.

I can only assume that they have 2-4 guys have on defense have a green dot helmet waiting on the sidelines in case of that or they can turn it off and on like you said or they can put it in a helmet quickly. The article doesn't get that deep into it.

[Turnobili]

i imagine he will be the big SAM in those 4-3 under looks, and he probably still plays nickel with Littleton. they're not going to pay him to sit on the bench in nickel

Edited September 3, 2021 by Turnobili

[RaidersAreOne]

Damn, looks like Wright sniffs out screens with the best of them. Dude has such high football IQ.

[drfrey13]

11 minutes ago, RaidersAreOne said:

Damn, looks like Wright sniffs out screens with the best of them. Dude has such high football IQ.

Yes he does.  He is not a great athlete.  He just does not take false steps and flows to were the ball is going to be instead of chasing.  I feel so much better about this defense after McCoy having a good showing and signing Wright.  We have a good shot at being a 10-15 defense now.  McCoy staying healthy and producing is the most important in my book but Wright puts us over the top.  I have not been this optimistic about our defense in a while.  Looks like Bradley was a great hire.

[Jeremy408]

2 hours ago, drfrey13 said:

Yes he does.  He is not a great athlete.  He just does not take false steps and flows to were the ball is going to be instead of chasing.  I feel so much better about this defense after McCoy having a good showing and signing Wright.  We have a good shot at being a 10-15 defense now.  McCoy staying healthy and producing is the most important in my book but Wright puts us over the top.  I have not been this optimistic about our defense in a while.  Looks like Bradley was a great hire.

This is what I’ve been saying. You think KJ Wright would want to come play for Gunther?

[Trojan]

With this signing I feel pretty good about our team. I wish it happened earlier and had someone with his experience in TC helping others and being an example though. I wish we had a big stable 5 technique on our team, like the Red Bryant or Calais Campbell big run killer to really stabilize the defense. I still don't understand the Clelin Ferrell pick, but the other recent-ish prospect that could have been that type is AJ Epenesa and the Bills had him lose weight too (I think GB did the same with Rashan Gary too). I wish we had Cle bulk from the get go especially when Maxx showed pass rush specialist promise. Oh well, maybe he still gets there eventually. Other than that spot and 1tech nose depth behind Hankins I feel like this is one of our best defenses recently.

Edited September 3, 2021 by Trojan

[raidr4life]

10 hours ago, RaidersAreOne said:

 

He has amazing instincts.

[MrOaktown_56]

3 hours ago, Trojan said:

With this signing I feel pretty good about our team. I wish it happened earlier and had someone with his experience in TC helping others and being an example though. I wish we had a big stable 5 technique on our team, like the Red Bryant or Calais Campbell big run killer to really stabilize the defense. I still don't understand the Clelin Ferrell pick, but the other recent-ish prospect that could have been that type is AJ Epenesa and the Bills had him lose weight too (I think GB did the same with Rashan Gary too). I wish we had Cle bulk from the get go especially when Maxx showed pass rush specialist promise. Oh well, maybe he still gets there eventually. Other than that spot and 1tech nose depth behind Hankins I feel like this is one of our best defenses recently.

I still think he's gonna get a lot of snaps and play well. He did last season.

[Turnobili]

how we created the cap space:

i thought it would have made more sense to just extend Carr and move over some of his 2021 salary to future years, but thats just me. void years do nothing but create some guaranteed dead cap at the end of his second year

Edited September 3, 2021 by Turnobili

[Turnobili]

 

[SBXISBXVSBXVIII]

6 hours ago, raidr4life said:

He has amazing instincts.

The one handed pick was sick

[agarcia34]

Wonder what the Raiders have up their sleeves with this one. Is it just salary cap flexibility or are they really looking at bringing someone else in 

[Turnobili]

3 minutes ago, agarcia34 said:

Wonder what the Raiders have up their sleeves with this one. Is it just salary cap flexibility or are they really looking at bringing someone else in 

they tried claiming Royce Freeman...