There’s only so much the Las Vegas Raiders can do with three games left in the regular season. The team dropped to 2-12 following a Week 15 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The defense has had moments this season, but they played a very poor game against Philadelphia. The Raiders didn’t make any big moves after the game, but they did announce on Tuesday that they’ve decided to waive defensive tackle Leki Fotu.
Fotu, who was born where the Raiders used to play in Oakland, California, first came into the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in 2020. He made his way to Las Vegas this offseason and appeared in six games, starting four of them.
He had a sack and eight combined tackles in those games. The Raiders may have moved on from Fotu so that rookies JJ Pegues and Tonka Hemingway get more playing time to finish out the season.
Fotu will still be a strong candidate to be added to the practice squad, but he could also try to land with a team that has a chance to make the playoffs. If those teams don’t come calling, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Raiders sign him to the practice squad.
Malcolm Koonce Starting to Take Special Teams Reps
The Raiders’ defensive line has been ineffective as a whole outside of defensive end Maxx Crosby. One player who was supposed to make an impact was Malcolm Koonce.
He had a breakout year in 2023, but missed all of 2024 with an injury. He has just 3.0 sacks on the season. Koonce has started to take special teams snaps, which isn’t a great sign that they think he’s important for the defense. Head coach Pete Carroll explained why the defensive end has been seen on special teams more.
“We need him on special teams,” Carroll told reporters Monday. “We’re always searching for guys to take some reps off other guys and help us out there. He’s got some background. Been on the punt team for a number of years. There was a whole lot of heavy personnels in this game. They weren’t wide open with their three receiver sets nearly as much because they could run the football because we were behind. And so, it takes away some snaps. It’s happened for a couple weeks recently.”
Raiders’ Goals for the Rest of the Season
The Raiders are 2-12 with very little to play for. It was obvious during the loss to the Eagles that the players are starting to check out on the year. Carroll might be coaching the last games of his career, and he revealed what he wants to see from the team across the final three games.
‘We need to show improvement,” Carroll said. We need to get better. We need to move the football better and get in the red zone and get some points on the frickin’ board, man. We’ve got to score, and then when we get our chances, we’ve got to back it up with what we’re doing on the other side. And so, we just need to feel like we’re improving, and this game was so slanted in their direction, that it just didn’t feel like that at all.”
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