LA Chargers: Ranking the linebacker rooms in the AFC West
By Jason Reed
3. Las Vegas Raiders:
Cory Littleton, Nick Kwiatkoski, Nicholas Morrow, Asmar Bilal, Max Richardson, Tanner Muse
You can definitely make the case for the Las Vegas Raiders ranking second on this list as they have some established linebackers who are fairly talented. However, this is where the projections come in, as the LA Chargers project to have a much better linebacker room in 2021 than they had in 2020.
We will save the Chargers talk for when we get to them. This is about the Raiders ranking third in the AFC West.
Quite frankly, the gap between the Raiders and Chiefs is probably larger than the gap between the Raiders and the no. 1 team on this list. The Chiefs have a below-average linebacker room while the rest of the AFC West have above-average linebacker rooms.
Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski are a really solid duo to have as the team's two best linebackers. Littleton is a former Pro Bowler who was really good with the Los Angeles Rams but did take a step back in 2020 with the Raiders. It is absolutely possible that he already peaked, although he is still a good linebacker.
Kwiatkoski is a solid linebacker who has seemed primed to take that next step to Pro Bowl levels for multiple seasons now. That has not happened yet, but it could and even if it doesn't he is still a solid linebacker.
Nicholas Morrow is fine and the depth is okay behind those three. The Raiders do have a former Charger in Asmar Bilal, who was just a practice squad guy for the Bolts.