The Las Vegas Raiders defensive line coach is well aware of what edge Rusher Maxx Crosby and defensive tackles John Jenkins and Adam Butler bring to the table in terms of on-field production and leadership in the locker room. He praises that veteran group and is ecstatic to have the trio back in the Silver & Black fold for the upcoming 2024 campaign, knowing full well just how different things would be without the combo of Crosby, Jenkins, and Butler.
While the on-field antics are supremely valuable — at the end of the day, a team is often judged by the final tally of wins and losses it compiles in a given year — the trio are standard setters for Las Vegas with their work ethic, dedication to the craft, and the natural chemistry that’s been created in the defensive line room. One that added another elite talent to the group in defensive tackle Christian Wilkins via free agency.
Leonard, who enters his 12th year coaching in the NFL and his second season as Raiders defensive line coach, is leaning on the trio being lead-by-example types on and off the field and is wholly appreciative of the group being willing mentors and taking younger players under their respective wings. In expanding on that, the defensive line boss provided insight on his job as a coach and what the veteran defensive linemen are all about.
“Tremendously, tremendously. We have a pretty transparent room, so when I’m coaching something, there’s little details — my job is to set the standard for how we do things, how we play a base, how we play a reach, how we play scoop, how we rush the passer with four, how we rush five. Black and white is my job, this is how we do it,” Leonard began on how the veterans help his job as a coach and his role. “Their sauce: Details within that are everything. They understand how to do things and then what I call change ups off of it. Like the standard way to middle push for example.
“There’s a lot of details that go within that that they always touch on, stuff you hear, calls that the offensive line makes, stances, tips, and that’s all stuff that can’t be coached. You’ve got to play the game to understand those types of things. So, like tremendously.”
That veteran group has taken younger defensive linemen to give them pointers on on-field and off-field items which is a much-needed challenge to elevate their standard to meet (or get close to) the high marks set by Crosby, Wilkins, Jenkins, and Butler. Which can pay dividends year in and year out, with Malcolm Koonce being a prime example of a player that had trouble clicking and producing before having a breakout season to have an eight-sack 2023 campaign (43 total tackles).
The 26-year-old edge rusher played sparingly on defense his first two years after being a third-round pick out of Buffalo in the 2021 NFL Draft but he kept on the grind and impressed so much coaches had no choice but to let Koonce get after the quarterback. That represents the “keep stacking” mentality Leonard has and imparts on his defenders.
And it’s something he wants to see from edge rusher Tyree Wilson (seventh overall pick in the 2023 draft) and defensive tackle Byron Young (70th overall pick in same class) as both head into their second season in the league.
“That kid knows how to play football, it’s a nasty, it’s a style of play he’s still developing, it’s a finish,” Leonard said specifically of Young. “It’s more than just doing your job, but emphasizing the finish with him. He’s really smart. He’s really intelligent. He wants to be right, but it’s playing with that edge at a consistent level. He’s shown flashes of it, and I think he’s had a hell of a spring doing those things.”
Like Leonard, senior defensive assistant Rob Ryan is hoping young defensive linemen like Young and Wilson heed what veterans like Jenkins brings to the table. The soon-to-be 35-year-old (on July 11) enters his 12th season in NFL after being the 82nd overall pick in the 2013 draft by the New Orleans Saints, the team Ryan was the defensive coordinator for from 2013 to 2015. So he’s well aware of what Jenkins offers both on the field and in the locker room.
“Like, when Jenkins came in this building last year, he brought that D-line together like it’s never been together,” Ryan noted. “And they hang together, they believe in each other, and it makes it special. And to see him finally get recognized as a great player is really cool.”
Speaking of cool, Leonard gave a solid example of how he’s had to be both level- and open-minded coaching the Raiders defensive line where experience varies. Leonard pointed out David Agoha, a player from Nigeria whom the Raiders obtained via the NFL International Pathway Program.
A basketball standout from from Nigeria’s Premier Basketball League and who stood out at the NFL Africa Camp in Ghana (hosted by former NFL standout Osi Umenyiora), Agoha is acclimating to the NFL game as he heads into his second year with Las Vegas. And Leonard emphasized letting Agoha know, if you have questions or don’t’ understand, keep asking for clarification.
“It tests you as a coach. I love David,” Leonard began. “It makes me take nothing for granted, assume nothing. I think it was in training camp last year, we were putting in a call, we were like, ‘David, this comes from the field,’ and he was here all spring mind you. He’s like, ‘Coach what do you mean by the field, ‘ and I said, ‘Shame on me, I didn’t explain. This is the hashmarks on the field, this is the wide side of the field, this is the short side.’
“So, I sometimes say this line, I’m giving you guys lines that I say. Navy Seals, they say there are no bad boat crews, only bad boat captains, so like that’s on me, that’s my fault. So like with him, back to the progression thing, going back very basic, football 101, that’s everything, calls. Why do we call it base defense? Why we call it nickel defense? What’s nickel? All those types of things, so you’re just building and trying to explain the basics of the game. And like I said, you can’t assume it. I tell David, you’ve got to confirm, if you don’t know you need to tell me you don’t know, because a lot of guys will just sit there like, ‘Yeah, alright.”
