When the Las Vegas Raiders signed linebacker Nakobe Dean during free agency this offseason, the team wasn’t just getting a defender who can patrol the second level of the defense. It added a much-needed leader to a young position group and defense.
While Maxx Crosby has done a good job in that role over the last several years, serving as the alpha on the Raiders’ defense, the defensive end’s position limits how much he can do as a leader. NFL defensive coordinators typically lean on a linebacker to wear the green dot; relaying the play call, getting everyone aligned pre-snap and taking overall command of the defense.
From his time at the University of Georgia to the last four years with the Philadelphia Eagles, Dean’s football IQ and leadership skills have allowed him to successfully take on that role on several occasions. And during the early stages of training camp, it sounds like the Raiders have gotten what they were looking for in that department.
“Command. Confidence. ‘Robbie, get out of my huddle. I got it,’” defensive coordinator Rob Leonard replied when asked about what’s stood out about Dean. “I want to get up in there and start up, but that’s not reality of how the game’s played. Just leadership. It feels good to have that at the MIKE linebacker.”
One might expect there to be a hand-holding period—so to speak—during the beginning of camp, where the defensive coordinator is more involved with the defense than he would be during a game. Especially since Las Vegas has so many new defenders and a new system, with Leonard getting a promotion and replacing Patrick Graham in the offseason. But that isn’t how Dean operates.
“When you’re the MIKE, you want to hear your coordinator talk,” the linebacker explained on why he kicked the play-caller out of the huddle. “You want to hear him talk to you. You want to hear how he’s going to call the calls. You want to hear if he is going to just say the call and get off the mic, or is he going to give you checks and everything.
“So, you don’t want him just in the huddle making the call. You want the team to hear you too. I mean, I’m from Mississippi–I don’t have trouble anymore–but I’ve had trouble before with guys not understanding some of the things that I say. So, I want the guys to hear me and hear how I make the play calls and everything too.”
Dean went on to say that he doesn’t want “training wheels” since Leonard won’t be on the field with the defense on gamedays.
Beyond making the calls and ensuring everyone can understand him, the free-agent addition is doing his part to set the standard and build relationships with his teammates.
“You just got to hold everybody accountable,” Dean said. “As far as carrying into gameplay, first you got to know your personnel, what I like to say, know your guys. That’s going to be built through connection with the guys and everything like that. So, know your personnel and hold everybody accountable because at the end of the day, we all just want to win games. I know I came here to win. So whatever we got to do to win, we’re going to make sure we do that.”
When asked about getting the young players—of which there are many on the Raiders’ defense this season—up to speed, Dean continued to convey that message.
“Holding everybody accountable, holding everybody accountable,” he replied. “So, getting them up to speed is not only holding them accountable, but also holding the guys who have played some football accountable so they can see that nobody, including myself, is exempt from being corrected or needing to know what to do down in and down out.”
While the former Bulldog was one of Georgia’s captains on the 2021 National Championship team, he surprisingly never had the ‘C’ patch on his chest with the Eagles. Granted, part of that is likely due to injuries since he struggled to stay healthy and on the field in Philadelphia. However, it sounds like that will change in Las Vegas this fall, meaning the silver and black No. 17 jersey will likely have a new accessory by Sept. 13.