Silver And Black Pride
Film breakdown on the young defensive tackle as he steps into a bigger opportunity after Christian Wilkins’ release
Releasing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins creates a void in the middle of the Las Vegas Raiders' defense, where the coaching staff will have to dip into the depth chart to find Wilkins' replacement. The next man up likely is second-year pro Jonah Laulu, who has received some praise during the early stages of training camp.
A seventh-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Laulu didn’t make the Indianapolis Colts’ 53-man roster last season but was claimed off waivers by the Raiders. He participated in all 17 games and made seven starts after Wilkins suffered a season-ending injury, collecting 35 tackles, three TFLs and one sack.
Additionally, the Las Vegas native recorded 20 ‘defensive stops’ from Weeks nine to 18, which was the 10th-most among interior defenders during that timeframe, according to Pro Football Focus.
With Laulu expected to take on a bigger role this season, let’s take a look at what he can bring to the Raiders' defense and where he can grow.
Laulu stood out the most as a run defender last season, primarily due to his strength at the point of attack. That helped him create stalemates at the line of scrimmage or generate enough knockback power to play in the offense’s backfield, as well as get off blocks to collect a few of the defensive stops mentioned above.
Additionally, he was occasionally able to close his gap with the offensive lineman, as seen in the first clip here. That wasn’t something Laulu was consistently able to execute, but it did allow him to take away two gaps on the occasions when he was effective with the technique.
On the other side of the coin, Laulu is reliant on winning at the point of attack and depends on closing the gap with the man too much, in my opinion. That can lead to him getting reached, meaning the offensive lineman either gets to his outside shoulder when he’s on the front side of run plays or his inside shoulder on the backside, creating rushing lanes.
Right now, Laulu is late to recognize reach or backside cutoff blocks, resulting in him getting wheeled out of his gap. That can come with more experience, and the good news is that the second-year pro has the athleticism to work laterally and avoid getting reached when his block recognition improves.
Speaking of his athleticism, head coach Pete Carroll recently talked about how he likes the traits Laulu showed on tape. While Carroll didn’t specify, the defensive tackle’s combination of strength and athleticism is likely what the coach is referring to.
We’ve seen the power at the point of attack, and a wrinkle that Laulu has in his back pocket is his ability to use his quick get-off and spin move to make plays against the run. The former allows him to get penetration and play in the offense’s backfield, while the latter helps to...
