The Las Vegas Raiders invested some major capital to fill the holes in the secondary by taking safeties Trevon Moehrig and Divine Deablo on the second day of the 2021 NFL Draft.
The Raiders traded up to take Moehrig at No. 43 before settling in on linebacker Malcolm Koonce and Deablo with consecutive picks at No. 79 and 80. They hope the new additions will provide defensive coordinator Gus Bradley with the tools to revamp this group in the 2021 NFL season.
Las Vegas has made a concerted effort to bolster the secondary with promising, young talent in recent years. It seems Deablo’s physical skill set brought on a sense of nostalgia for Bradley.
The 6-foot-3-inch, 226-pound Deablo has drawn some comparisons to former Seattle Seahawks star safety Kam Chancellor. The rookie wasted no time acknowledging Chancellor as the player he modeled his game after the most.
“Kam Chancellor is the first person who comes to mind, yes sir,” Deablo said.
Bradley’s connection to Chancellor from their days in Seattle makes him an intriguing option to help develop Deablo into a key contributor. The rookie feels similar traits played a major part in his selection.
“Yeah, he probably saw me and had a few flashbacks and saw the Kam in me,” Deablo said. “I look forward to working with him for sure.”
Any comparisons to a player of Chancellor’s caliber are clearly premature, for now. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and played an integral role in forming the ‘Legion of Boom’ under Bradley that led the Seahawks to Super Bowl XLVIII glory.
Regardless, Deablo has shown that they may be justified from a physical standpoint. After all, he put on a stellar performance at his pro day by recording a 34-inch vertical jump, 10-foot-6 inch broad jump, 4.42 40-yard dash and 19-repetitions on the 225-pound bench press.
The onus will now fall on Bradley and the coaching staff to find a way to make it translate at the next level. Fortunately, early reports indicate that they may have already found a way to do just that.
Deablo’s skill set will allow Bradley to utilize him at several positions on defense. This may even include a full-blown transition to Will linebacker in the new scheme.
