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Third in a series analyzing players on the 2010 Raiders that need to step up their game for the Raiders to become a playoff team. Who Will Cover? The strength of the starting linebackers in 2009 was certainly their ability to play the pass. Thomas Howard, Kirk Morrison and Ricky Brown were all more adept at playing the pass than they were at playing the run. (Photo Credit: Jeffrey Beall) Flash-forward to 2010 and the starting linebackers are Trevor Scott, Rolando McClain and Kamerion Wimbley. Three new linebackers, two pass rushers and one rookie. The drastic change comes on the heels of yet another poor year stopping the run. While some of that can certainly be placed upon the interior line play, the one constant had been Morrison and Howard. Morrison was shipped out of town, but Howard remains with an uncertain roll. The Raiders have a totally different question surrounding the linebackers in 2010. Can they cover? Scott, a converted defensive end, was effective rushing the ...

Did the Raiders fix the run defense with the revamping of the linebackers? It is one of the biggest questions the Raiders will need to answer this offseason. If so, can the linebackers Trevor Scott, Rolando McClain, and Kamerion Wimbley also cover running backs out of the backfield and tight ends on passing downs? The Raiders started 2009 with Thomas Howard, Kirk Morrison, and Ricky Brown as the starters. By the end of the year Scott had supplanted Howard on the weak-side and Howard had moved to the strong-side for the injured Ricky Brown. When Sam Williams and a rookie fifth-round draft pick get meaningful snaps, it is time for an overhaul. So the Raiders started the overhaul, traded for Wimbley, drafted McClain, and finally traded for Quentin Groves and shipped out Kirk Morrison. Trevor Scott Scott developed into a nice linebacker last season, but wasn’t asked to drop into coverage very often. In five games as a linebacker, Scott dropped into pass coverage 65 times. This amounted to ...