Patrick Graham - DC

Every coach in the history of the NFL simply hires those they have worked with before. McCarthy is just getting the band back together. He wasn't going to run a bunch of interviews and find new guys.

 

Wait, so who's gonna "call" the Defense?

 

This may be well coached team.
Now the only person responsible for losing are the players. This past season it was mixed, we weren't sure what the coaches were doing?

 

Sid?

 

8rd? Guy a Ravens fan?

 

I was about to come explain this.

Patrick Graham
System: Hybrid 3-4 / 4-2-5, heavy disguise, Belichick-influenced.
Identity: Flexibility over aggression.
Looks complex but is actually reaction-based: bend-don’t-break, contain explosives, force long drives.

Brian Flores
System: Attacking 3-4 with heavy sub-packages.
Identity: Aggression over flexibility.
Constant pressure packages, disguised blitzes, manipulate protections, create chaos.

.....

I'll always love aggression. But flexibility over aggression is more beneficial for playoff caliber teams.

 

Watt sacks are going down. And I wonder if he'll force a trade.

But DB will be happy.

 

He'll make DBs look great.

 

I would have taken Harris just to see what a young mind could draw up. But It could have been a crap show though.

Morris would have been next. But he would stay at most 2 years before going to take on a HC job.

 

His Raiders defensive unit performed better than the Steeler’s this season so i guess thats good. I doubt they had more talent than the steelers, i know they spent less.

 

they’ve been going down since 2023. Id say they've reached very near rock bottom.

 

I'll be shocked if he breaks more than 5, if Graham comes here.

 

I figured I'd post some info on the Raiders this season to give everyone an idea of what Graham was dealing with as DC and how he performed in that role.

The Raiders have an offense that can't move the ball or score points. The second half of the season they were tanking for the #1 pick. They even sat out some players with injuries that really didn't require it. The team forced Crosby to sit out the last two games with a knee injury. He wasn't happy about it and made it known. https://news3lv.com/news/instagram/...ootball-sports-nevada-pete-carroll-jon-spytek

2025 Raiders offense:

The Raiders were dead last (32nd) in offensive yards and averaged only 245 yards per game this season.

The Raiders were 28th in passing yards at 167.7 yards passing per game.

The Raiders were dead last (32nd) with 77.5 rushing yards per game.

The Raiders were dead last (32nd) in scoring with 14.2 points per game.

https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/2025-nfl-offense-rankings-team-pass-and-rush-stats

They play in good weather all the time. Offenses always score more points in fair climates than northeast crap weather. That's why I don't like it when people want to rag on a DC like this. He was in a horrible situation but continued to put competitive defenses on the field.

The Raiders defense held their own despite playing in a much better division as well. Not many big-time players on the defensive side of the ball except for Crosby.

2025 Raiders defense:

The Raiders were 14th in total defense giving up 317.8 yards per game.

The Raiders were 14th in passing defense at 201 yards per game.

The Raiders were 17th in rushing defense at 116.8 yards per game.

The Raiders were 25th in scoring defense at 25.4 points per game.

https://www.foxsports.com/articles/nfl/2025-nfl-defense-rankings-team-pass-and-rush-stats

 

They are keeping the ILB's coach ill reserve judgements but he was the latest in the long line who either taught what Tomlin wanted them to teach or continued the bad practices of his predecessors. Guys guessing plays and getting swallowed up in blocks rather than tracking the rb and exploding into them. There were flashes from Queen and Malik Harrison found a nut every once and a while but still have to go back to Timmons or Shazier for solid play.

 

They're also keeping the secondary coach! Let the confusion on D continue...

 

Mods, please move this thread to the Something Besides Tomlin forum.

 

Maybe 20 years ago. But I was meaning Maxx.

 

Coming round a bit on this, I sure was sick of seeing Tomlin's defense, so there's that at least. The inconsistencies were absolutely wild, and the playoff peformances were consistently god awful.

Maye he can get something more out of what is consistently one of the top 5 most expensive defenses in the NFL.

 

***** and moan ***** and moan lol

 

He is an upgrade over Austin, but so would any of the interviewed Defensive Coordinators by the Steelers in 2006. Austin sucked. He was a grade D coach.

Since the top rated Defensive Coordinators all want to be head coaches, and Mike McCarthy is signed for five years we either get some guy who has been around for years and has no shot at being a head coach, or a positional coach who has never been a defensive coordinator and is unproven.

Net net, the Steelers upgraded in Head Coach and DC, but not by a huge margin.

I am just okay with Graham considering the above circumstances I give the hire a B- / C+

 

For starters he is a very strong game planner, excellent at disguising coverages, he can maximize limited talent and is respected by players. His defenses typically outperform their talent level. He has worked with Giants Raiders and can be considered part of Bill Bellicheck tree since he worked with NE as defensive assistance and linebackers coach

 

Let me put it this way, Graham is going to have to work his tail off to be as bad as Austin was. IMO, second worst Tomlin hire behind Canada.

 

That sounds good to me let’s see how this expensive D performs. Of course we need to see the actual roster first.

 

A block of wood would be an improvement over Austin.

Watts arrow is pointing down. Often banged up. They should explore a trade and hopefully have the trading team take on some of that bloated contract. I'm sure he would want to go to one of the upper echelon teams not some bottom feeder. Plus they need to sign Herbig and its not going to be cheap.

Have to restock the cupboard first.

 

My initial reaction was kind of "meh".

But a lot of that is becuase he's not a "named" guy or the "new hotness".

I like the comments upthread talking about him being versatile.

Will be interesting to see the D get an update.