Littleton a big part of remade defense
Cory Littleton went from undrafted free agent to a defensive centerpiece because of his willingness to adapt.
“My mindset coming in to the league was to find where my value was,” Littleton said Sunday via a Zoom conference call after the Raiders wrapped up their fourth practice of training cam in Henderson, Nevada. “In college, my value was being a defensive end, a pass rusher. Coming in to the league I knew there would be a transition to play linebacker and all the aspects that came with playing linebacker. I’m just trying to be the best one I can be.”
The Raiders calculated Littleton’s value at three years and up to $36 million, signing the fouryear veteran away from the Los Angeles Rams with an average
salary of $11.75 million. In an offseason in which the Raiders remade their defense, Littleton was the most expensive acquisition.
At 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds, Littleton is the prototypical modern linebacker. The stereotypical run-stuffer who seldom ventures outside the box has given way to lithe athletes who can shadow running backs, tight ends and the occasional wide receiver in a league where passing reigns supreme.
“He moves like a DB but he’s in a linebacker body,” Raiders safety Jeff Heath said. “The days of the 265-pound linebacker who doesn’t leave the hashes, that’s tough in today’s game.”
It’s an area where the Raiders have struggled seemingly forever. One probably would have to go back to 2007 when Thomas
Howard had six interceptions and Kirk Morrison had four to find a time when the Raiders weren’t susceptible to having their linebackers targeted in pass coverage. And that was on a 4-12 team.
Defending the pass will be only part of Littleton’s duties.
“We think he can do it all,” coach Jon Gruden said. “He’s been a threedown linebacker on a good team, a Super Bowl team. He’s got sideline-to-sideline ability. He’s got cover ability. He’s what we’re looking for, we just have to put it all together, put some time on task. Teach him our defense and get him comfortable like he was in L.A.”
Having Littleton on the roster for defensive coordinator Paul Guenther means being comfortable for the first time with schemes that have a linebacker guarding the likes of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce or Chargers running back Austin Ekeler.
“As a linebacker nowadays in the NFL, they’re going to get you matched up with tight ends and running backs and those types of things,” Guenther said. “This guy can cover. He can cover ground in a very short amount of time. He’s picking up the run fits in our defense, which are a little different, structurally, from where he came from. He’s done a really good job for us in everything that we’re doing, both base and solid defenses.”
An inside linebacker in a 3-4 defense with the Rams, Littleton will play outside in the Raiders’ 4-3 base alignment. But even more than that, he will be one of two linebackers on the field in nickel situations. Lamarcus Joyner, a teammate with the Rams who struggled last season with the Raiders, made it known Littleton should be a target in free agency.
“I told coach Gruden and coach Guenther he was a must-get,” Joyner said. “With a defense like this you have to trust the men next to you. I think he’s very trustworthy. He’s going to allow the players at safety and nickel back positions to make a lot more plays trusting that he will be in a position to help you out with leverage.”
Littleton was a two-time Grossmont Valley League Most Valuable Player at Mount Miguel High in the San Diego area but mostly flew under the radar at Washington. He was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention pick as a senior and was bypassed in the 2016 NFL draft.
After two seasons playing predominantly special teams, Littleton became a starter in 2018 under defensive coordinator Wade Phillips just as the Rams were turning a 4-12 record into 11-5 and an NFC championship.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of things to change what’s already here,” Littleton said. “At the end of the day, for myself, it comes down to a want to. Me coming here, I see the same kind of hunger that we had in L.A. Coming off a losing season and wanting to be better because you know that you can. Everyone here is motivated to do just that.”
• The Raiders will hold their first practice in pads today on the occasion of Gruden’s 57th birthday, but it remains to be seen how much hitting they’ll actually do.
”We’re going to be very measured in what we do and how we do it,” Gruden said. “We’re going to adapt every day to who’s available, No. 1. And we’re going to try to be creative to give the guys that need it, we’re going to try to get it for them.”
• Running back Josh Jacobs participated in his first practice, but Trent Brown remained under wraps.
• Quarterback Marcus Mariota, coming off a day in which he was described as “dazzling” by Gruden, had a much rougher practice session according to media members present.