The Las Vegas Raiders’ performance in free agency has drawn some scrutiny from the fanbase due to the team’s lack of big moves. However, Pro Football Focus liked what the Raiders did during the first week of free agency, giving the club a ‘B’ for its signings.
PFF highlighted five Las Vegas’ signings — Raheem Mostert, Eric Stokes, Elandon Roberts, Malcolm Koonce and Jeremy Chinn — with the Koonce deal getting a “good” grade while the other four were labeled “average”. Here’s what the site had to say about the pass-rusher.
Koonce could’ve cashed in big time this offseason had he not torn his ACL in August, forcing him to miss all of 2024. Instead, he re-signs with the Raiders on a one-year, prove-it deal. Koonce was one of the 25 most valuable edge defenders in 2023, according to PFF’s WAR metric, and was excellent across the second half of that season. From Week 10 on, his 36 pressures tied for eighth among edge defenders.
PFF also weighed in on two of the team’s other big signings: Chinn and Roberts.
Chinn ranked sixth among safeties in tackles resulting in a defensive stop (35) this past season. He’s at his best close to the line of scrimmage. He earned a 70.3 PFF overall grade and a 73.9 PFF coverage grade when lined up in the box, compared to a 61.0 PFF overall grade and a 60.2 PFF coverage grade at free safety.
Roberts enjoyed the two best seasons of his career in Pittsburgh, largely thanks to being used as a two-down linebacker. That’s the part of the job that departing Raiders linebacker Robert Spillane, whom he will likely replace, was best at, so expect similar results here