With Woodson gone, new voices finally emerging for Raiders
NAPA, Calif. – There would be a void. Jack Del Rio knew this before anyone else.
The Oakland Raiders’ head coach saw it when he sat in player meetings, dissecting a concept or piece of film with pointed questions. His gaze swept across the room, waiting for someone to raise a hand or voice. He usually hoped an answer would come from someone young and green, someone absorbing more than he was teaching. Mostly he hoped it wouldn’t come from Charles Woodson because, hell, Woodson knew everything. And everyone else seemed to know that, too.
“If you asked a question in the room, the players would all look to see what Charles would say,” Del Rio recalled. “I mean, literally. Their heads would all go over to Charles. I’d sit there and be like, ‘Guys, I can ask Charles. But I’m asking you.'”
Del Rio paused and laughed.
“I’d say it and they’d still look over at Charles.”
It was those moments when Del Rio had to consider what life was going to be like without Woodson, particularly in an offseason of rising expectations, free-agent acquisitions and Derek Carr updates. The on-field work was going to have a vital mission: to address the void left behind by the human football encyclopedia. With Woodson gone, Khalil Mack was going to have to become more vocal. Some free agents were going to have to impose themselves on the locker room immediately. And the Raiders were going to have to shed younger players’ easy habits.
“Sitting on their hands,” Del Rio called it. “Not wanting to say anything.”
How that changes will be a defining trait for an Oakland franchise expected to do big things. While it certainly won’t be the only factor in success or failure (the third season of Carr’s offensive development will loom large, too), shaping the defense around Mack and finding some veteran leaders has been a top priority. Especially with the Raiders sinking $43 million in guaranteed salary cap space into the free-agent trio of cornerback Sean Smith, linebacker Bruce Irvin and safety Reggie Nelson.
All three have already made significant contributions. Smith looks like a huge upgrade at cornerback. Irvin has quickly slid into the mentor role for Mack. And interestingly, Nelson has already become one of the most trusted and vocal on-field defenders – not on Woodson’s level, but definitely headed in a similar direction. As camp wrapped in Napa on Tuesday, practice was often punctuated by Nelson moving someone into the right spot, chirping defensive calls or a steady stream of talk.
“To me, he’s really been the guy to fill that void on the other side [of scrimmage],” fullback Marcel Reece said of Nelson. “He’s the one you are always hearing, always getting guys [aligned] out there. It doesn’t stop when he goes to the sideline, either. That’s when you really notice it. He’s still on the sideline yelling things out to guys, making sure they’re always where they’re supposed to be and keeping right.”
That back-end veteran help is going to be important with the Raiders already missing end Mario Edwards until (at best) late September with a hip injury, and pass rusher Aldon Smith for … well … who knows how long. That robs defensive coordinator Ken Norton of flexibility up front, although the Raiders still have enough talent to throw a solid mix of players and pass-rushing packages at opponents.
What they’re still working on is mentality. Specifically, something along the lines of the culture that Irvin grew accustomed to with the Seattle Seahawks, where the locker room is dominated by Alpha players who largely hold each other accountable. To the coaching staff’s delight, Irvin has been trying to instill that in Mack, who is already dominant on the field but is still expanding his vocal role in the locker room.
“Guys are stepping forward and more openly challenging each other,” Del Rio said. “You can see that every day. Leaders are emerging. We have more guys stepping up this year and demanding things from the people around them than we had last year. … Bruce Irvin has been a natural guy to do it. Sean Smith. Reggie Nelson. Those guys have already come in and are stepping up. Ultimately, we want guys to be themselves [in the locker room]. We want to empower them to take ownership.”
That has translated into Irvin giving meeting room clinics to a young front seven, urging them to carry a mentality of being consistently feared. And Nelson repeating the same coaching mantra he has heard over the course of his 10-year career: That you have to compete with each other before you can expect to compete with an opponent.
While the rest of the world talks about Carr and offense as being the spark that propels Oakland into the playoffs, it’s the defensive mentality that has Del Rio embracing expectations.
“It’s not like we’ve all the sudden become this team that’s just dripping with talent and no one can contend with us,” Del Rio said. “But what it is here – we’ve finally assembled a roster that you can’t just look at us, chalk it up and say, ‘Well, we’re going to go blow them out by 14 points.’
“That’s in the past, OK?”
That was more of a statement than a question. But either way, Del Rio is confident he’s got the guys in the room to answer it. The void is being filled one day at a time, one lesson at a time, and with all hands raised and accounted for.
