McDaniels: Competition at Defensive Line is a Good Thing

Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels notes that competition in the defensive line position is a good thing and the Silver and Black, "Needs depth in camp anyway."

One of the things that has been noticed during this off-season is the number of defensive line pickups the Las Vegas Raiders made between the free agency and the NFL Draft.

Raiders Coach Josh McDaniels attests to the fact that the Silver and Black didn’t have a lot of players on the defensive line after last season.

“We didn't have many on the roster to start with, so I think part of it was just where it was,” McDaniels said at the post-draft press conference. “Came in and Hank was an unrestricted free agent and Quinton was an unrestricted free agent. There was a lot of opportunity at that position.”

Defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins re-signed with the Raiders back in April, while Quinton Jefferson left to join the Seattle Seahawks on a two-year deal.

The Raiders drafted defensive tackle Neil Farrell in the fourth round and defensive tackle Matthew Butler in the fifth round.

In addition, the Silver and Black picked up four more defensive linemen in free agency.

“I think just the combination of when we came in, what the depth chart looked like initially, and then just trying to take a few swings here, whether it be free agency, and then it happened to happen that way in the draft,” McDaniels said.

“Like I said, we're going to need some depth there in camp anyway. We are going to improve the competition at each position that we can, and I think we've put a group in there that'll do that now.”

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