Raiders' DC Patrick Graham Moving on Up

The Las Vegas Raiders left no stone unturned in efforts to find ways to improve as they headed into this season and that has Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham moving on up.

At the end of last season, the Las Vegas Raiders analyzed every aspect of their team to take the next step in year two of Coach Josh McDaniels' tenure.

TheRaiders did everything from bringing in new players to releasing a veteran player who started training camp listed as a started. They've moved Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham from the field to the booth.

"We had a long conversation about that in the offseason," McDaniels said. "There are people who prefer it both ways. Some people prefer to be down, some people prefer to be up. PG has been down most of the time in his career. We kind of took a peek at it in the preseason and kind of liked the way he was able to see everything.

"I've never called a game from up there and obviously I wouldn't do that now. But I mean, I think there are plenty of coordinators in the league who are up there. They feel like they have a great bird's eye view of what's going on and you can see things more in real time and have an understanding of what happened or didn't happen.

"So, I think we feel decent about where we're headed in that regard, so I think we'll stick with that."

For Graham, moving to the booth gave the team the best chance to win. "We did what we thought was best for this season, and it's been fine so far," Graham said. 

"I've been up in the booth before in my career, just not in a play-calling role, but the first six years of my career in the NFL I was up in the booth. Just getting situated up there, I’m able to have my Coke and honestly, that's a little bit back to the old days. I don't have to worry about the weather later in the season.

"It's still seeing the game; I have a few years of experience now, so being able to see it from both ways from down the field and up in the box, and it's been good."

The jury is still out on how much of a difference Graham's relocation to the booth will make. 

The Silver and Black return home to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas to play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 8:20 p.m. EDT/5:20 p.m. PDT.

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