Associated Press
Raekwon McMillan was traded to the Las Vegas Raiders from the Miami Dolphins on Aug. 29, 2020.
Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020 | 10:49 a.m.
The Raiders spent much of the offseason revamping their linebacking corps, and that effort continued on Saturday as Las Vegas traded a draft pick to acquire third-year inside linebacker Raekwon McMillan from the Miami Dolphins.
The Raiders gave up a fourth-round pick in the 2021 draft and received McMillan and a fifth-round pick in return.
The Dolphins used a second-round pick on McMillan in the 2017 draft, but the Ohio State product tore his ACL during the preseason and spent his entire rookie campaign on injured reserve. He returned to the field in 2018 and started all 16 games, making 69 solo tackles. Last season he started 12 games and advanced metrics ranked him as one of the league’s better run-stopping linebackers.
What the move means for Las Vegas:
Linebacker fit
Free-agent acquisitions Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski are the core of the Raiders’ linebacking corps, but both players’ value is derived from their ability in pass coverage. McMillan, who is listed at 6-foot-2, 242 pounds, can bring a thumper’s attitude to position, which could make him useful on first and second down.
Don’t expect to see much of McMillan on third downs, though. Over the last two years he has allowed quarterbacks to complete a whopping 82.4 percent of passes when targeting him (42 of 51). Last year he allowed 8.7 yards per target as opposing QBs compiled a 102.8 passer rating against him. It wasn’t a fluke — in 2018, he allowed a passer rating of 146.2 against him while giving up 9.6 yards per target and six touchdowns.
Simply put, McMillan has been a disaster in pass coverage and that’s why the Dolphins dumped him for so little. The Raiders may feel they can sub him out on passing downs and limit his snaps to keep him favorable situations.
Live audition
McMillan is still on his rookie contract, but the deal will expire after the 2020 season. There were some reports that the Dolphins wanted to extend him, but that obviously didn’t come to fruition, as they ended up shipping him out late in camp for a meager trade return. So something soured there, but the Raiders are hoping McMillan will fit better in their front seven.
Despite their offseason spending spree, the Raiders still have enough cap space to offer McMillan a contract after this season — if he is productive on the field. And he’s young enough (entering his age-25 season) that Las Vegas might consider keeping him around. But with Kwiatkoski signed for three years and $21 million, it would take a big leap from McMillan to displace Kwiatkoski.
Depth chart
The Raiders have basically been holding open tryouts for an outside linebacker during training camp, and McMillan doesn’t do much to settle that position. He’s strictly an inside linebacker, which is good news for undrafted free agent Javin White. The UNLV product flashed consistently throughout camp and profiles as a pass-coverage specialist at this point in his development, so he and McMillan don’t appear to be in direct competition for a roster spot.
White is still a lock to make the practice squad and has a decent shot of making the final 53-man roster.
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
