How Marcus Epps Can Help Divine Deablo

Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Divine Deablo is looking to put an injury-riddled 2022 season behind him as he takes on more responsibility in 2023.

Deablo will wear the green dot for Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham’s defense, a way that Graham can communicate play calls with him on the field.

This is a tall task for Deablo, as he transitioned to linebacker with the Raiders after playing defensive back for four seasons at Virginia Tech.

Clearly, Deablo has impressed the staff enough in his development to earn this level of responsibility while still continuing to refine his skills as a linebacker. Despite this, there will still likely be some growing pains next season for Deablo.

He should not worry, however, as there is a player in the secondary who will be able to erase some of Deablo’s mistakes, should he make them; safety Marcus Epps.

The Raiders signed Epps to a two-year contract in free agency this offseason after an impressive season with the Philadelphia Eagles. Epps was a highly sought-after free agent, as he was excellent in stopping the run and was a good coverage safety.

What truly separates Epps is his football IQ. Epps was one of the smartest players on the Eagles defense last season, constantly being in the right place and rarely making mistakes.

With a linebacker who is inexperienced at the position in Deablo, Epps can play behind him and make up for any mistakes he could make in run defense or pass coverage. This should help take pressure off of Deablo as a first-time green dot wearer.

Good communication is the most important element of a good defense, and the Raiders were not good at any level defensively last season. The addition of Epps and the emergence of Deablo could be beneficial in a major way for the Raiders’ defense.

Deablo is a supremely athletic and talented player, but he is still learning how to play linebacker. He will now take on a big responsibility with the green dot, but he has an excellent communicator behind him in Epps who can help alleviate Deablo’s margin for error. 

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