Getty Oakland Raiders HC Jon Gruden.
Preston Brown was cut by the Cincinnati Bengals just ahead of their matchup with the Oakland Raiders but it looks like he made the trip to the Bay Area, regardless. The veteran linebacker has was spotted in the Raider locker room and he says he’s signing with the team. It seems strange that the Raiders waited to sign him until after the Bengals game, but it probably wouldn’t have changed much as the defense held them to only 10 points.
LB Preston Brown in the #Raiders locker room, says he has signed with the team
In a corresponding move, the Raiders have placed wide receiver/kick returned Dwayne Harris on the injured reserved thanks to a foot injury, per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur. Trevor Davis has filled in Harris’ role and is expected to continue to do so.
What Brown brings to the Raiders is quite a bit of experience and can help finally fill the void that Vontaze Burfict left when he was suspended.
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Preston Brown Thinks He’s a Good Fit
Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther was on the Bengals’ defensive coaching staff for a long time, but it needs to be mentioned that he didn’t coach Preston Brown. That being said, according to the newest Raider, he should fit in just fine.
“I have a lot of the terminology down already,” said Brown about the Raiders defense, via Matt Kawahara.
While the coaching staff in Cincinnati is almost completely different from when Guenther was there, there are still many players who played for the Raiders defensive coordinator. Brown should have an easy time fitting in with this new team.
Brown Is a Tackling Machine
LB help on the way! Welcome to the Silver and Black, Preston Brown! @PB_Number2 #RaiderNation
There’s one player on the Raiders who is very familiar with Brown and that’s Richie Incognito. The two played together for the Buffalo Bills and the offensive lineman had praise for the linebacker.
“Preston Brown is a tackling machine, man. He’s all over the place,” said Incognito, via Kawahara.
It is very true that Brown is a tackling machine. He was the NFL’s co-leader in tackles back in 2017. He has never had a season in which he played all 16 games that he didn’t accumulate over 100 tackles. It is concerning that the Bengals would just release him in the middle of the season, but they are a winless team with very little future prospects.
His skill set is very similar to that of Tahir Whitehead. It remains to be seen if he’ll take a starting spot in the linebacking corps. The Raiders are very thin at linebacker, but it looks like Marquel Lee could be on his way back. Will Compton has been a solid addition as a depth option and then there’s also Kyle Wilber. It’ll be interesting to see if the Raiders decide to let one of them go once Lee is ready to get back on the field.
For the most part, the Raiders’ starting linebackers have been Nicholas Morrow and Whitehead. They don’t always roll with three, but that could change with Brown added to the mix. Burfict was the team’s middle linebacker and that’s what Brown has played for most of his career. It could help the Raiders defense quite a bit to add a true middle linebacker to the mix.
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